Public health officials have just reported the first known “severe” case of bird flu in the United States. There are now 61 confirmed cases across eight states. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that a person had been hospitalized with a “severe case” of bird flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dec. 18 announced that a patient in Louisiana was hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 bird flu, the first known instance of severe infection in the U.