A resident of Yakima County, Washington, who had underlying health conditions and was exposed to bird flu at a dairy with infected cattle, has died from complications of the virus, county health officials said. The person had been hospitalized and died on Sunday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the person was infected with H5N1, and that its analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence found no changes that would make it spread more easily or cause more severe illness.
County officials have reported 33 dairy herds recently testing positive for H5N1 and three human infections linked to exposure at a dairy, and the Yakima Health District is working with the state health department to identify close contacts and monitor them for symptoms. It is the third US death tied to bird flu since 2024 and the first in a year. More than 70 human infections have been reported in the United States since early 2024, with no known person to person spread, and the CDC says the risk to the general public is low.