Overview
- The patient is an older adult from Grays Harbor County who was hospitalized in early November with high fever, confusion, and breathing difficulties.
- State testing with CDC confirmation identified H5N5, a subtype previously seen in animals but not in humans.
- The individual keeps a mixed backyard flock that had contact with wild birds, which investigators identify as the most likely source of exposure.
- More than 100 contacts, including healthcare workers, have been monitored and some tested, with no evidence of person-to-person spread.
- Authorities say population risk remains low, and virologists report H5N5 behaves similarly to H5N1 in risk models as the CDC counts about 71 U.S. human bird-flu cases to date, mostly H5N1.