The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms. State health officials announced the death on Monday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the nation's first due to bird flu.

The first human death from bird flu in the United States has intensified calls for the government to ramp up efforts to stave off the threat of another pandemic -- particularly ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House.