The late patient had been hospitalised in December with severe respiratory symptoms after contact with infected birds.

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 CDC previously confirmed the first severe human case of bird flu in Louisiana, but now the CDC has confirmed a virus mutation. Find out more here