Grays Harbor County, Washington — A Washington state man is believed to be the first person to die from A A rare strain of bird fluBut state health officials said Friday that the risk to the public is low.
The man, an older man with underlying health conditions, was being treated for bird flu called H5N5 after apparently becoming the first known human infected with the strain, according to a statement from the Washington State Department of Health.
The man from Grays Harbor County, about 78 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of Seattle, had a flock of domestic poultry that were exposed to wild birds in the backyard, health officials said.
“The risk to the public remains low,” the statement from state health officials said. “No one else involved has tested positive for bird flu.”
Health officials said they would monitor anyone who had close contact with the man, but “there is no evidence of transmission of this virus between people.”
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement about the infection saying there was no information to suggest that “the risk to public health has increased as a result of this case.”
The H5N5 virus is not believed to pose a greater threat to human health than the H5N1 virus, which was behind a wave of 70 human infections reported in the United States in 2024 and 2025. Most of these cases were mild illnesses in workers on dairy and poultry farms.
The distinction between H5N5 and H5N1 lies in a protein involved in releasing the virus from the infected cell and promoting its spread to surrounding cells.