US reports first human death related to bird flu

A person in Louisiana who became severely ill with a bird flu virus known as H5N1 in December has passed away from the infection, marking the first known bird flu death in the US

A person in Louisiana has died from a bird flu virus known as H5N1. This is the first known death related to the virus in the US. The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has not identified additional H5N1 cases in the state nor found evidence of person-to-person transmission, indicating that the risk to the general public remains low.

The person was hospitalised for the virus in December, after contracting it from infected or dead birds in their backyard. They experienced severe respiratory symptoms. It was the first serious case of H5N1 in the US. The LDH announced their death on 6 January and said that they were older than 65 and had underlying health conditions.

Will there be another pandemic after covid-19 and are we prepared?Covid-19 is responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world, but researchers fear the next global outbreak could be even worse, making it vital that we start preparing for that unknown pathogen now

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