What to know after Washington state resident dies of bird flu
Washington state health officials this week reported what is believed to be the first bird flu death of the year.
The person who died was a resident of Yakima County, in south central Washington on the border with Oregon, who was hospitalized with "severe illness," authorities noted.
Officials said the person contracted bird flu, also known as avian influenza, following exposure to infected cattle. They had underlying health conditions, according to the Yakima Health District.
Public health specialists said the death is a reminder that bird flu is still present and circulating.
"While we haven't heard much about it, maybe in the last year or so, the virus has not gone away because there have been periodic detections of this [bird flu] in dairy cattle," Andrew Pekosz, professor and vice chair of the W. Harry Feinstone department of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News.
According to Pekosz, "the sequence of the virus" shows that it has remained active.
"It's sort of the same virus that has been around for a couple of years now," he said. "So, this all indicates that the virus continues to spread in dairy cows."
Washington state has recorded three cases of bird flu so far this year, all associated with people who either work at dairy farms or were in contact with infected dairy cows, according to local reports.
Pekosz said he agrees with local health officials that the risk to the general public is low and that most people do not need to be concerned. However, he said the death is a reminder to public health officials to be more aware of bird flu viruses.
He added that there is also mild concern about bird flu cases in humans being confirmed as seasonal influenza start to spread, arriving early in several parts of the country.
Data from the Washington State Department of Health shows that influenza activity in the state is elevated and increasing.
Experts have previously said recombination of bird flu and seasonal influenza is unlikely because bird flu is not yet showing evidence of person-to-person transmission.
"We need to keep our eye on that because there still is a possibility that this virus could mutate, pick up the genetic capacity to spread readily from human to human," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told ABC News. "It can't do that at the present time, although it can in ... people with chronic illnesses, such as this person in the state of Washington who unfortunately died of a bird flu illness."
Schaffner and Pekosz said this is a reminder for people to get their seasonal influenza vaccine if they have not done so already, and that it's not too late.
"Influenza started early in many parts of the country, including my own," Schaffner said. "But remember, flu lasts throughout December into January and into February and even beyond. So, there's plenty of winter to come, during which you want to have as much protection against severe disease that the vaccine can provide."
