With reports of the first human death from bird flu in the US, some Americans are feeling an uncomfortable flashback to the early days of Covid-19, when infectious disease experts were talking about a new virus that was sending people to the hospital with respiratory infections.

The death of a Louisiana resident who was over the age of 65 signals that future H5N1 infections are not guaranteed to be mild, health experts say

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on in response to the bird flu outbreak affecting dairy herds. Find out more about the rising cases, its symptoms, and other details below.

Louisiana has reported the first U.S. fatality from avian influenza. Most of the country’s human cases have been mild

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.

Hundreds of Canadian geese have been found dead this winter in Owatonna, Albert Lea, Waseca and other southern Minnesota cities.

The risk to the general population from H5N1 bird flu remains low, a World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday, following the first death of a patient from the virus in the United States.

The LDH announced Monday that a man over the age of 65 died from Bird Flu, making this the first case of death in the US. LSU Health experts weigh in on how this can raise a little concern over the spread of the virus.

The Louisiana patient was hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu in the first death in the U.S. caused by the H5N1 virus.