Overview
- An older man from Grays Harbor was hospitalized in early November with flu-like illness and later confirmed to have H5N5.
- He keeps domestic poultry reportedly exposed to wild birds, so officials suspect direct animal-to-human transmission.
- The CDC reports no evidence of efficient human-to-human spread and assesses the risk to the general public as low.
- H5N5 has circulated in wild birds in North America and Northern Europe, with detections in Germany and Norway; Germany’s Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut says a 2.3.4.4b H5N5 strain would not constitute a drastic change.
- Health agencies urge close surveillance, stronger poultry biosecurity and strict hygiene to spot and contain any additional cases.