A Washington state resident has contracted a bird flu strain previously only found in animals, health officials confirmed Nov. 14.
The individual has been hospitalized since early November with influenza H5N5, an avian influenza strain never before reported in humans, according to the Washington State Department of Health. The patient is an older adult with underlying health conditions who has a “mixed backyard flock of domestic poultry at home that had exposure to wild birds,” officials said, adding the animals likely exposed the virus to the individual but an investigation is ongoing.
The CDC said the risk to the public remains low.
As of Nov. 14, the CDC has confirmed 71 cases of human bird flu and one death. The most common strain in animals and humans is H5N1. Richard Webby, PhD, a virologist and influenza expert at St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told The Washington Post the H5N5 strain behaves similarly to H5N1 in models.
Although the U.S. has not seen a human-to-human transmission of avian flu, public health experts have voiced concerns about the 2025-26 respiratory virus season. The five-week government shutdown delayed surveillance activities and meetings as emergency department visits for emergency syncytial virus increased, California detected a local spread of a severe mpox strain, the measles outbreak across 43 states grew, and a severe flu strain caused early and severe outbreaks in other countries.
