Officials stress that the public health risk remains low<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, Nov. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 A Washington state resident has become the first person in the United States to test positive for a rare bird flu<\/a> strain that has never before been found in humans.<\/p>\n The older adult, who has underlying health problems, was hospitalized in early November after developing a high fever, confusion and trouble breathing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a severely ill patient,\u201d state epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist<\/a> told The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n Experts stress that the public health risk remains low.<\/p>\n Testing by the Washington State Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed the patient was infected with H5N5, a type of avian influenza seen in wild birds in the U.S. and Canada, but never before in a human.<\/p>\n Officials said the person cares for a mixed backyard flock and two birds had died weeks earlier. Wild birds also had access to the property, making poultry or wild birds the most likely source of exposure.<\/p>\n While H5N5 is different from the more common H5N1 strain that has spread widely among animals and people worldwide, experts say the two strains behave similarly.<\/p>\n “The H5N5 viruses we have looked at behave similarly to H5N1 viruses in our models to assess human risk,” Richard Webby<\/a>, a virologist at St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital, told The Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n More than 100 health care workers who interacted with the patient have been monitored, and some were tested for flu-like symptoms.<\/p>\n “We have identified no additional individuals other than the patient who is infected with H5N5,” state health officer Dr. Tao Kwan-Gett<\/a>, said to The Post.<\/em><\/p>\n The CDC is working closely with Washington state and has been helping clinicians with treatment recommendations.<\/p>\n At this time, officials say there is no evidence of person-to-person spread.<\/p>\n Cases in U.S. poultry flocks began increasing in September, with 25 flocks infected in the first two weeks of November, already more than all of September, the CDC<\/a> says.<\/p>\n Risk increases during the colder months because migratory birds can carry the virus and pass it to backyard flocks or commercial poultry, Seema Lakdawala<\/a>, a virologist at Emory University, explained to The Post.<\/em><\/p>\n The CDC also remains alert for a potential early uptick in seasonal flu<\/a>, which has already begun to rise in some countries.<\/p>\n Since 2024, 70 people in the U.S. have tested positive for bird flu, mostly workers exposed to infected dairy cattle or poultry.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the current H5 bird flu situation<\/a>.<\/p>\n