A person in Yakima County, Washington, who caught bird flu after exposure to infected dairy cows has died following a serious illness, county health officials said Sunday.
He is the first person in the United States to die from complications of bird flu in 2026., and the third in the United States to die from bird flu since February 2024, when the virus first spread in dairy cattle. So far, the CDC has recorded cases of bird flu in more than 70 people. in the United States since 2024.
Most people who became ill worked on farms with infected livestock or poultry. Health officials say most cases have been mild and that they are all so-called “dead-end” infections, in which a virus jumps from an animal to a person but does not spread further.
To date, no human-to-human transmission of avian influenza has been documented in the United States. Health officials say the risk to the public remains low.
Yakima County health officials said they are closely monitoring the deceased person’s contacts to ensure they do not spread the infection to anyone else.
On October 31, the Yakima County Health District reported that one person who had been in contact with infected livestock was hospitalized with a serious case of avian flu. The person had underlying health conditions, but the county did not say what they were. On November 1, the county announced that the person had died.
Yakima County officials also said a third person exposed to infected livestock tested positive. The three cases in Washington occurred since mid-October and resulted from exposure to infected cows. The third case had mild symptoms and was not hospitalized, county health district officials said.
Since October 8, 33 dairy herds infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus have been reported in Washington state. The state urges people who work in dairies to wear personal protective equipment and report their symptoms if they feel sick.
Gn Health
