""The risk to the public remains low. No other people involved have tested positive for avian influenza," state health authorities said. "Public health officials will continue to monitor anyone who was in close contact with the patient for symptoms to ensure that human-to-human spread has not occurred," the department said and added: "There is no evidence of transmission of this virus between people.""
"H5N5 is a sub-type of avian flu that is not believed to be a greater threat to human health than the H5N1 virus that has been behind a wave of 70 reported human infections in the US in 2024 and 2025. Most of those have been 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 an infected cell and promoting spread to surrounding cells."
"The department said it would not be releasing specific details relating to the deceased's name, gender or age out of respect for the family's privacy. They did confirm that the person was an older adult with pre-existing health conditions. According to the health department statement, the person had a backyard flock of domestic birds which they said was the likely source of infection."
An older adult in Grays Harbor County, Washington, believed to be the first confirmed human H5N5 avian influenza case, has died. Health authorities will not release the deceased's personal details and confirmed the person had pre-existing health conditions. The likely source of infection was a backyard flock of domestic birds. State officials reported no other positive human cases and said the risk to the public remains low. Public health teams will monitor anyone who had close contact with the patient for symptoms to detect any human-to-human transmission. H5N5 is not considered a greater threat to humans than H5N1, which caused about 70 reported US infections in 2024–2025, mostly mild in farm workers.
Read at www.dw.com
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