First US bird flu death of 2026 occurs in Washington

A resident of Yakima County, Washington, has died from complications of avian influenza. County health officials confirmed the death on Sunday. This is the first person in the United States to die from bird flu in 2026.

The individual had been exposed to infected dairy cows. Health officials reported the person was hospitalized with a severe case on October 31. The patient had underlying health conditions, though the county did not specify which ones. The person died on November 1.

This is the third death from bird flu in the US since February 2024. That is when the virus first appeared in dairy cattle. The CDC has recorded bird flu cases in more than 70 people in the US since 2024. Most of those individuals worked on farms with infected cattle or poultry.

Health officials state that most cases have been mild. They describe the infections as dead-end, meaning the virus moved from an animal to a person but did not spread further. No human-to-human transmission has been documented in the US. Officials say the risk to the general public remains low.

Yakima County health officials are monitoring the contacts of the deceased. They are checking to ensure the infection did not pass to anyone else. A third person exposed to the same infected cattle has also tested positive. That individual has mild symptoms and was not hospitalized.

All three Washington cases have occurred since mid-October. Each resulted from exposure to infected cows. Since October 8, 33 dairy herds in Washington have been reported with the H5N1 bird flu virus. The state is urging dairy workers to wear personal protective equipment and report symptoms if they feel ill.