1st human known to be infected with H5N5 strain of bird flu dies, Washington state officials say

[cbabe]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/1st-human-infected-h5n5-strain-bird-flu-dies/story?id=127774354

1st human known to be infected with H5N5 strain of bird flu dies, Washington state officials say

The person was an older adult with underlying health conditions, officials said.

ByYouri Benadjaoud
November 21, 2025, 7:59 PM

The first human to have ever been infected with the H5N5 strain of bird flu has died, Washington state health officials confirmed late Friday.

The person was an older adult with underlying health conditions, the Washington State Department of Health said in a news release.

The person had a backyard flock of mixed domestic birds. No other details were released out of respect of the family’s privacy, health officials said.

… more …

[2naSalit]

1. Just in time for the holidays!

[mwmisses4289]

2. I thought over the last few years several people in China had died of this?

Or was that a different strain of bird flu?

[nilram]

3. People have died from H5N1, but this is the first case of H5N5 in humans.

All the attention has been on H5N1 because they’re concerned about human-to-human transmission. They’re not sure yet where this guy got H5N5 (he did keep chickens, though), but not concerned about H5N5 transmission between mammals. Yet

https://doh.wa.gov/newsroom/h5n5-avian-influenza-confirmed-grays-harbor-county-resident

I looked at various reports and “first H5N5 in humans" is consistent.

[mwmisses4289]

4. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

I had remembered it was H5something, just couldn't remember which variant.