The Louisiana Department of Health said on Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu had died, the country's first death from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of people and millions of poultry and cattle.

A patient with the first “ severe case ” of bird flu in the U.S. has died, according to a press release Monday from the Louisiana Department of Health. It’s the first human death from H5N1 in the country since concern over the current outbreak started in early 2024 when it became clear the virus was being transmitted in the U.S. between cattle.

A patient in Louisiana has died of bird flu. Health authorities considered the case to be the first severe H5N1 infection in a U.S. resident.