U.S. records first human death due to bird flu

First U.S. death from H5N1 bird flu reported in Louisiana patient, highlighting risks for those in contact with birds.

A U.S. patient who had been hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu has died, the Louisiana Department of Health said on Monday, marking the country’s first reported human death from the virus.

The patient, who has not been identified, was hospitalised with the virus on December 18 after exposure to a combination of backyard chickens and wild birds, Louisiana health officials had said.

The patient was over age 65 and had underlying medical conditions, officials said, putting the patient at higher risk for serious disease.

Nearly 70 people in the U.S. have contracted bird flu since April, most of them farmworkers, as the virus has circulated among poultry flocks and dairy herds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Federal and state officials have said the risk to the general public remains low.

The ongoing bird flu outbreak, which began in poultry in 2022, has killed nearly 130 million wild and domestic poultry and has sickened 917 dairy herds, according to the CDC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

An analysis of the virus taken from the Louisiana patient showed it belongs to the D1.1 genotype - the same type that has recently been detected in wild birds and poultry in Washington State, as well as a recent severe case in a teen in British Columbia, Canada, according to the CDC.