The U.S. has recorded its first human death from bird flu, a grim milestone that comes as at least 66 cases have been recorded in the country.
The patient, who was over 65 and had underlying medical conditions, was hospitalized in Louisiana in December; the case was considered the country’s first severe human H5N1 infection.
The Louisiana Department of Health said the patient had been exposed to a combination of a backyard flock and wild birds.
“The Department expresses its deepest condolences to the patient’s family and friends as they mourn the loss of their loved one,” it said in a statement. “Due to patient confidentiality and respect for the family, this will be the final update about the patient.”
All but one of the human bird flu infections confirmed so far in the U.S. were diagnosed in the last 10 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases have been relatively mild, with symptoms including pinkeye, coughs or sneezes.
The majority of the patients became sick after exposure to infected cattle or poultry. The Louisiana patient was the first case linked to exposure to a backyard flock.
Just two cases have involved patients who did not have known exposure to animals. One was a person in Missouri who was hospitalized with bird flu in September but recovered after being treated with antiviral medications. The other was a child in California who experienced mild symptoms in November.
Public health officials have not found any evidence that the virus has spread person-to-person, which would mark a dire step in bird flu’s evolution. However, samples of the virus collected from the Louisiana patient showed signs of mutations that could make it more transmissible to humans, according to the CDC.
The CDC maintains that the immediate risk to public health is low. “A sporadic case of severe H5N1 bird flu illness in a person is not unexpected,” the agency said last month.
For those concerned about bird flu risk, the CDC advises people not to drink unpasteurized raw milk or have contact with sick or dead animals. Those who work on poultry or dairy farms affected by H5N1 should wear personal protective equipment and monitor for symptoms.
The federal response to bird flu ramped up a month ago, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered testing of the national milk supply, starting in six states. The Biden administration also set aside $306 million last week for additional surveillance, laboratory testing and medical research for bird flu.
But some experts have criticized the U.S. response for being too slow or limited.
“The Biden administration has been mishandling the outbreak in cattle for months, increasing the possibility of a dangerous, wider spread,” two former Food and Drug Administration officials wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post on Friday.
