Bird flu: first ever death from rare H5N5 strain is recorded in US | Bird flu
A U.S. man is believed to be the first person to die from a rare strain of bird flu, but state health officials said Friday the risk to the public is low.
The Washington state man, an older adult with underlying health conditions, was being treated for a strain of bird flu called H5N5 after apparently becoming the first person known to be infected with that strain, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Health.
Health officials had previously said that the patient had been hospitalized due to the disease since the beginning of November, after he developed high fever, confusion and breathing problems.
The man, from Grays Harbor County, about 75 miles southwest of Seattle, had a flock of domestic fowl in his backyard that was exposed to wild birds, health officials said.
“The risk to the public remains low,” state health officials said in a statement. “No one else involved in this incident has tested positive for bird flu.”
Health officials said they would track down anyone who had close contact with the man, but said there was “no evidence of transmission of this virus between humans.”
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement saying there was no information about the infection to suggest “an increased risk to public health as a result of this case.”
H5N5 is not believed to be a greater human health threat than the H5N1 virus, which is behind a wave of 70 human infections reported in the United States in 2024 and 2025. Most of these were mild illnesses in workers on dairy and poultry farms.
The difference between H5N5 and H5N1 lies in a protein involved in releasing the virus from an infected cell and promoting its spread to surrounding cells.
