A total of 954 cases of avian influenza—also known as H5N1 and the bird flu—have been reported globally since the World Health Organization (WHO) began tracking the infectious disease in 2003, and of that total, close to half (48.6%, or 464) of the cases have resulted in death. For the years 2003 to 2009 and 2010 to 2014 alone, there were 468 and 233 cases, and 282 and 125 deaths, respectively.1
In stark contrast, the first US death was reported by the Louisiana Department of Health on January 6; there was just 1 case reported in the US overall in 2022 and 66 reported in the following years.2 As of December 6, 2024, only 58 cases had been confirmed in the US.3
Not all states have seen cases, however. At present, besides Louisiana—where the patient death remains the only human case of H5N1 in the state4—cases have…