Overview
- An older adult from Grays Harbor County has been hospitalized since early November with high fever, confusion and respiratory distress.
- State testing, with CDC confirmation, identified H5N5, a subtype previously detected in wild birds in North America but not in people.
- The patient keeps a mixed backyard flock with wild-bird access, and investigators cite poultry or wild birds as the most likely source of exposure.
- No evidence of person-to-person transmission has been found, and clinicians are receiving CDC guidance on treatment as investigations continue.
- The United States has recorded 71 human bird-flu cases since 2024, mostly H5N1 with one death, and experts say H5N5 appears to behave similarly in risk models.