The Louisiana illness came weeks after Canadian officials reported that a teen in British Columbia was hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu.

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.