According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is the first
US bird flu case linked to a backyard flock. A patient in Louisiana has been hospitalized with
the first severe case of avian influenza A(H5N1) virus (“H5N1 bird flu”) in the US.
CDC confirmed the presence of the virus on December 13, 2024. USGS Biologist Science
Tech Brooke Hill releases a Western Sandpiper after testing it for the highly
pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Sonoma, California, on August 16, 2006
