An individual in Washington has tested positive for bird flu in the first human case of the virus to be detected in the US this year.
The patient, from Yakima County, about 140 miles southeast of Seattle, was diagnosed with the H5N1 strain of bird flu after being exposed to two dairy cattle herds also infected with the virus.
No details of their symptoms have been released, but health officials said they were ‘not experiencing severe illness’ and had not been hospitalized.
They are currently isolating at home. Anyone who was in close contact with them is being contacted and asked to monitor themselves for symptoms.
It marks the first human case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu reported in the US in 2026, following a surge of cases in 2024 and 2025 linked to exposures among dairy and poultry workers.
Overall, the US has recorded 73 human bird flu infections caused by any H5 strain since the start of 2024 and two deaths.
There is no sign that the virus is spreading from human-to-human, which experts say would be needed for it to trigger a wider outbreak.
Health officials in Yakima County said that the risk to the general public from bird flu remained ‘low’ and human-to-human bird flu transmission is ‘extremely rare’ and there is ‘currently no evidence’ that it was taking place.
An individual in Washington state has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu. Pictured above are USDA farm workers in 2015
They added: ‘People at greater risk [from bird flu] include dairy workers and others who have close or prolonged contact with infected animals or environments contaminated with the virus.
‘If you work on a dairy farm and develop symptoms after potential exposure to infected cattle, contact your healthcare provider.’
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is highly transmissible among animals but is not known to spread between humans.
In previous human cases, H5N1 bird flu infections have been linked to being exposed to droppings or saliva from infected animals, putting farm workers at risk.
Of the 73 human cases of any H5 bird flu strain recorded since the start of 2024, just over half have been detected in California, which has recorded 38 cases.
Washington has the second highest total, 13 cases, and is also the state where the first human death from bird flu was recorded in November last year. The individual had H5N5, a strain previously never detected in humans.
A total of 10 cases have also been recorded in Colorado, two in Michigan and one each in Oregon, Nevada, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana and Ohio.
Additionally, Louisiana in January 2025 reported a death from the bird flu strain H5N1, the nation’s first human death from this strain.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 42 cases have been linked to dairy cow exposure, 24 to poultry farms and culling, three to ‘other animal exposure’ and three to unknown sources.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu was first detected in the US in 2022 and has been confirmed among cattle, chickens, cats, raccoons, skunks, wild dogs, bears and dolphins.
Symptoms in humans include eye redness and irritation (conjunctivitis), mild fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headaches and fatigue, according to the CDC.
In rare but severe cases, patients may suffer pneumonia, respiratory failure, kidney injuries, organ failure, sepsis and inflammation of the brain (meningoencephalitis).
The US Department of Agriculture has detected bird flu in 268 wild bird samples in the last 30 days. Detections were reported in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Montana.
