Jan. 7, 2025 – A person in Louisiana exposed to bird flu by a backyard flock has died. This marks the first U.S. human death linked to H5N1 avian flu, which has increasingly been detected in humans, cattle, and other wild and domestic animals.
The person was more than 65 years old and had unspecified underlying health conditions, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, which announced in mid-December that the person was hospitalized with a severe case. The person’s infection also followed exposure to wild birds in addition to backyard poultry, the department said.
“While tragic, a death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death,” a CDC news release stated.
In the past year, 66 people have had confirmed cases of bird flu in the U.S. The World Health Organization logged 939 human cases globally since 2003, of which 464 were fatal, although most cases and deaths occurred prior to 2015. Last year, there were three human deaths linked to bird flu worldwide.
“CDC has carefully studied the available information about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that the risk to the general public remains low,” the CDC news release stated. “Most importantly, no person-to-person transmission spread has been identified. As with the case in Louisiana, most H5 bird flu infections are related to animal-to-human exposures.”
Bird flu continues to be detected in both commercial and backyard poultry across the U.S., as well as in wild birds. Cattle infections were first detected last year and have now been documented in 16 states. In December, the state of California declared a public health emergency to better manage bird flu outbreaks.
The people at greatest risk of contracting bird flu are those exposed to birds recreationally – such as keeping backyard chickens – or those who work in jobs that expose them to birds or other animals at high risk, such as cattle.
