A person in Washington state has died from bird flu after exposure at an infected dairy farm, state health officials reported Sunday. It marks the third human bird flu death in the US since a strain of highly pathogenic (H5) avian influenza (HPAI) made the unprecedented jump from wild, migratory birds to dairy cows, which was first reported in the US in March 2024.

The person who died was a Yakima County resident and was said to have had underlying health conditions, which could have made the person more vulnerable to the infection. On Friday, county officials reported that the person was severely ill and hospitalized. In the subsequent announcement of the person’s death, officials said they would not be releasing further information about the person, including their name, gender, or age, out of respect for the family’s privacy.

“Our hearts go out to the individual’s family and loved ones during this difficult time,” Dave Atteberry, health officer for the Yakima Health District, said in a statement. “Avian influenza can cause severe illness, particularly among people who have underlying health conditions. While this is a serious and heartbreaking outcome, the risk to the general public remains low.”

Continued threat

In all, three people have tested positive for bird flu in Washington since the virus was reported in dairy cattle in the state on October 8. All three have been in Yakima County. While announcing the death on Sunday, officials also reported the third case. That case, like the first case, was in a person who had exposure to an infected dairy herd in the county. Both people have reportedly not experienced severe illness nor been hospitalized.

Since the October 8 report of infected herds, Washington state has had 40 detections of bird flu in dairy cows, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Most of those have been in Yakima County, which has reported detections in 33 herds.

This year, the USDA has reported 134 cases of bird flu in cattle, including cases in Texas, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Kansas. The USDA lists no other reports of cases in other domestic livestock, including swine. But the virus has continued to spread in other wild and captive mammals. A report last month from ProPublica revealed that the virus is raging on a mink farm in Utah. The report raised alarm because mink is a species that could give the virus opportunities to mutate to better spread among humans.

To date, no human-to-human transmission of HPAI has been reported from the over 70 human cases detected since 2024. Of the cases, only three have resulted in death. The first death was in a 65-year-old Louisiana resident with underlying health conditions, who became critically ill in January 2025 after exposure to infected wild and backyard birds. The second death, in November 2025, was reported by Washington state officials as an older adult with underlying health conditions who also had exposure to infected backyard birds.