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A man from Washington state is believed to be the first human to die from a rare form of bird flu.
The man, an older adult with pre-existing health problems, was being treated for the H5N5 bird flu strain, the first known human infection.
The man, who lives in Grays Harbor County, about 125 kilometers southwest of Seattle, kept a flock of domestic chickens in his backyard, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Health. Health officials suspect that these birds came in contact with wild birds, which led to the infection.
“The risk to the public remains low,” the statement from state health officials said. “No one else involved has tested positive for avian influenza.”
Health officials said they would monitor anyone who came into close contact with the man, but “there is no evidence of transmission of this virus between people.”
Earlier this month, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention A statement was released about the infections stating that no information would indicate that “this case has resulted in an increased threat to public health.”
H5N5 is not believed to be a greater threat to human health than the H5N1 virus, which is behind a wave of 70 human infections in the US in 2024 and 2025. Most of them, workers at dairy and poultry farms, had mild illnesses.
The difference between H5N5 and H5N1 lies in a protein that is involved in releasing the virus from the infected cell and promoting spread to surrounding cells.
What effect does bird flu have on humans?
The NHS says the main symptoms of bird flu can appear very quickly and include:
- feeling very high temperature or heat or shivering
- muscle pain
- Headache
- cough or shortness of breath
Other early symptoms may include:
- Diarrhea
- Disease
- stomach pain
- chest pain
- bleeding from nose and gums
- Conjunctivitis
It usually takes 3 to 5 days for the first symptoms to appear after you become infected.
Within a few days after symptoms appear, it is possible to develop more serious complications pneumonia And acute respiratory distress syndrome,
Human-to-human transmission of bird flu has never been documented in Europe or the UK, although it has occasionally occurred overseas.
Bird flu is spread by close contact with an infected bird (dead or alive).
This includes touching infected birds, touching feces or bedding, killing infected poultry or preparing it for cooking.