A Washington state resident has died, becoming the first human fatality from the H5N5 strain of bird flu, a virus never before confirmed in people.
Washington health authorities announced that the deceased, an older adult with underlying health issues, passed away on 21 November 2025 after being treated in the hospital for avian influenza. The virus was definitively identified as H5N5 by the UW Medicine Clinical Virology Lab and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
