Authorities have confirmed the first human death in the United States caused by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or H5N1. The announcement was made by the Louisiana Department of Health on Monday,

The case in Louisiana is the first human death from bird flu in the U.S. during this current outbreak, but there was a death in Mexico back in May 2024 in a patient with no known exposure to farm animals. The case, much like the patient in Louisiana, was in a person with other underlying conditions, though it’s not clear what those may have been.

The first person to have a severe case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States has died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

A person in Louisiana who became severely ill with a bird flu virus known as H5N1 in December has passed away from the infection, marking the first known bird flu death in the US

The patient, who was older than 65 and had underlying medical conditions, was hospitalized Dec. 18 in critical condition with severe respiratory illness.

A patient in Louisiana has died of bird flu. Health authorities considered the case to be the first severe H5N1 infection in a U.S. resident.

The Department of Health and Human Services Jan. 3 announced it is awarding approximately $306 million to support the federal government’s H5N1 bird flu response.

The first Louisiana patient with bird flu has died, officials with the state health department said Monday. The death is the first U.S. H5N1-related human death, the agency said.

Health officials have said the person who died was older than 65, had underlying medical problems and had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock.