A man from Grays Harbor County with underlying health conditions died after contracting the rare
H5N5 bird flu, marking the first known human case of this strain and the second US bird flu fatality in 2025.
He was hospitalized in Kings County near Seattle and had a backyard flock of domestic poultry exposed to wild birds, with tests confirming the presence of the H5N5 virus in the environment. Health officials noted no evidence of human-to-human transmission and emphasized that the public risk remains low despite monitoring close contacts and ongoing surveillance of the virus.