Overview
- The patient was an older backyard poultry owner from Washington’s Grays Harbor area with underlying conditions who was hospitalized in early November.
- Authorities say exposure likely came from domestic birds that had contact with wildfowl, and no other connected infections have been detected.
- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the H5N5 result, and state health teams are tracing and monitoring close contacts.
- Researchers at Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut say a 2.3.4.4b H5N5 lineage would not necessarily signal a major shift in risk compared with recent strains.
- The death occurs during the largest avian-influenza wave since 2022, with the US recording more than 70 human infections this year and European countries tightening poultry-control measures.