Yakima County Resident Dies of H5N1 Bird Flu After Dairy Exposure; CDC Says Public Risk Remains Low

A person in Yakima County, Washington, died Sunday, Nov. 1, after being hospitalized with severe bird flu. The Yakima Health District said the individual was exposed at a dairy with infected cattle and had underlying health conditions.

It is the first known U.S. death from avian influenza in 2026. The CDC says the person was infected with H5N1.

What officials have disclosed

The county first reported the hospitalization on Oct. 31. It announced the death the next day.

Officials have not released the person's name, gender or age. They cited privacy for the family. They also have not said what the underlying conditions were.

"Our hearts go out to the individual's family and loved ones during this difficult time," said Dr. Dave Atteberry, the Yakima Health District's health officer. "Avian influenza can cause severe illness, particularly among people who have underlying health conditions."

Three human cases, 33 herds

The death is one of three human cases the district has recorded in the county this year. All three have occurred since mid-October, and all three were tied to exposure to infected cows.

The first case was mild. The third was announced over the weekend. It also involves mild symptoms, and the person has not been hospitalized.

Since Oct. 8, 33 dairy herds in Washington have tested positive for H5N1. Atteberry said the infected dairies were found in early October through milk testing by the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

County public health workers then contacted the affected farms. They enrolled dairy workers in a text-based screening tool that checks daily for cough, fever or red eyes. Workers who report symptoms get follow-up questions from the health department, Atteberry has said.

The state is urging dairy workers to wear personal protective equipment and report symptoms promptly. The Washington State Department of Health said no other human cases have been confirmed in the state this year.

The state has reported all three cases to the CDC. As of the latest account, the agency had not yet added them to its public bird flu dashboard.

What the CDC says about the virus

The CDC analyzed the genetic sequence of the virus from the person who died. It found no changes that would make the virus spread more easily or cause more severe illness, a CDC spokesperson said Monday.

"There is no indication of person-to-person spread," the spokesperson said in an email. The case does not change the agency's assessment that the general public faces a low risk from A(H5) bird flu viruses. The agency said it is prepared to help Washington with additional lab testing and epidemiologic work.

Yakima County officials echoed that message. They said the risk to the general public remains low, and that people at greater risk are dairy workers and others with close or prolonged contact with infected animals or contaminated environments. They also said human-to-human transmission has never been documented in the United States.

Officials are contacting people who were in close contact with the infected individuals and monitoring them for symptoms.

The wider record

The CDC counts more than 70 human bird flu infections in the U.S. since the beginning of 2024. Most involved people who worked on farms with infected cattle or poultry. Health officials say most cases have been mild, and all have been so-called dead-end infections, in which the virus jumps from an animal to a person but goes no further.

This is the third U.S. bird flu death since the virus jumped into dairy cattle in February 2024. The first, announced in January 2025, was an elderly person in Louisiana infected with H5N1. The second, in Washington in November 2025, involved a rarer strain called H5N5.

The H5N1 virus has been spreading widely among wild birds, poultry, cows and other animals for several years. Officials say that widespread presence raises the odds that people get exposed.

Standard precautions apply. People who handle sick or dead birds or poultry should wear respiratory and eye protection and gloves. People who work on farms are considered to be at higher risk.

What comes next

The three Yakima County cases are all clustered in roughly three weeks, and all trace to dairies. That makes the milk-testing results and worker symptom checks the main early-warning tools. Yakima health officials are still tracing close contacts, and the CDC has not yet added the three cases to its public count.

No one has yet explained why the county's cases surfaced in a single burst in October, or whether more infected herds will turn up as testing continues.