With reports of the first human death from bird flu in the US, some Americans are feeling an uncomfortable flashback to the early days of Covid-19, when infectious disease experts were talking about a new virus that was sending people to the hospital with respiratory infections.

Louisiana has reported the first U.S. fatality from avian influenza. Most of the country’s human cases have been mild

The U.S. reported its first human death from H5N1 bird flu, marking a significant milestone in the outbreak. The patient was over 65 with underlying health conditions and was hospitalized in Louisiana in December.

The patient was infected after contact with domestic and wild birds, specifically a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds he raised at home.

The case in Louisiana is the first human death from bird flu in the U.S. during this current outbreak, but there was a death in Mexico back in May 2024 in a patient with no known exposure to farm animals. The case, much like the patient in Louisiana, was in a person with other underlying conditions, though it’s not clear what those may have been.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza or H5N1, has infected more than 130 million birds over the past two years as it threatened commercial bird operations and recently led to the first human death in the United States.