--- title: Does the First U.S. Death Mean Bird Flu Is Getting More Dangerous? description: Here’s what the latest genetic analysis reveals about how the virus is mutating. canonical: https://time.com/7205507/bird-flu-virus-mutating-death/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-08T18:29:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:49:25.319Z article:section: Health og:title: Does the First U.S. Death Mean Bird Flu Is Getting More Dangerous? og:description: Here’s what the latest genetic analysis reveals about how the virus is mutating. og:url: https://time.com/7205507/bird-flu-virus-mutating-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4fd19d76cf1646e/6998b2541f6709f35af5417a/GettyImages-2153359773.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2120 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2153359773.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Does the First U.S. Death Mean Bird Flu Is Getting More Dangerous? twitter:description: Here’s what the latest genetic analysis reveals about how the virus is mutating. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4fd19d76cf1646e/6998b2541f6709f35af5417a/GettyImages-2153359773.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Does the First U.S. Death Mean Bird Flu Is Getting More Dangerous? > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=ecbfa662-e59b-4141-aea4-4b1fa15f3caa&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Bird Flu: What's At Risk For You [Watch (HLS stream): Bird Flu: What's At Risk For You](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/h7ByYR2R.m3u8) (4:43)  _Published 2025-01-16. You’ve probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. So, what is it? Do you need to worry, and can you protect yourself? TIME Senior Correspondent Alice Park explains this latest outbreak of bird flu - also called H5N1 Avian Influenza - after officials reported the first death from virus in the U.S._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 8, 2025 6:29 PM UTC You’ve probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. So, what is it? Do you need to worry, and can you protect yourself? TIME Senior Correspondent Alice Park explains this latest outbreak of bird flu - also called H5N1 Avian Influenza - after officials reported the first death from virus in the U.S.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 8, 2025 6:29 PM UTC Any time a person catches H5N1, or bird flu, their infection is a chance for the virus to mutate in the wrong direction. When someone dies from the bird flu—as an elderly [Louisiana man did on Jan. 6](https://ldh.la.gov/news/H5N1-death), becoming the first U.S. death from the disease—experts get especially concerned. Could this person's deadly infection signal that the H5N1 virus is becoming more adept at infecting people and causing severe disease in humans? Here's what experts say. ## A closer look at the recent death So far, [66 people](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html) in the U.S.—most of them farmworkers who spent time around infected cattle and poultry—have been infected with H5N1, but all have recovered after mild illnesses. Health officials get samples from these infected individuals in order to keep tabs on the virus, monitoring it for any signs that it might be mutating to become more adept at infecting people, spread more easily among people, or cause more serious disease. So far, there have been no indications that the virus is changing to allow it to jump from person to person. The Louisiana man was swabbed for samples of the virus in his nose and throat before his death. So were the sick chickens in his backyard, with which he was in direct contact. After [analyzing](https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/h5n1-response-12232024.html) these genetic sequences, scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a few mutations that weren’t detected in infected chickens on the man's property, suggesting that the virus began changing after infecting him. **Read More**: W[_e Are Not Safe from Bird Flu Until We Protect Farmworkers_](https://time.com/6987552/bird-flu-farm-workers/) But the mutations weren’t sufficient to make the virus transmit more easily from one person to another, they concluded. The virus they identified was also detected in wild birds and chickens in the U.S. and in some human cases in the country and Canada, but it’s different from the strain responsible for the major outbreaks in dairy cows and chickens throughout country. The good news, according to the CDC analysis, is that they found no changes in the part of the viral genome that mutates to resist antiviral drugs, so current drug treatments should still be effective against this strain of H5N1. ## The reassuring—and less reassuring—news Despite the fact that the virus mutated in the patient, the CDC scientists say that scenario is slightly more reassuring than if a version of the virus that is more adapted to human infection was found in wild birds or chickens. “Although concerning, and a reminder that A(H5N1) viruses can develop changes during the clinical course of a human infection, these changes would be more concerning if found in animal hosts or in early stages of infection (e.g., within a few days of symptom onset) when these changes might be more likely to facilitate spread to close contacts,” the CDC scientists write in the report. “Notably, in this case, no transmission from the patient in Louisiana to other persons has been identified.” **Read More**: [_Can Bird Flu Survive in Milk?_](https://time.com/6988603/bird-flu-milk-pasteurization/) The Louisiana man’s virus did not contain changes that allow H5N1 to more easily infect mammalian cells—as the H5N1 found in most of the infected dairy cows do. But experts say that viruses are notoriously indiscriminate mutators, and that it’s a matter of time before H5N1 hits on the [right combination of mutations](https://time.com/7200088/can-bird-flu-infect-humans/) that enable it to spread more easily among people or cause more serious disease. It's also important to note the man's specific risk factors. He was over age 65, which puts him at higher risk of developing severe disease with any viral infection, and also had underlying health conditions, according to state health officials. The fact that he died after his infections doesn't necessarily mean he had a more virulent strain of H5N1. ## The bottom line—for now Based on the genetic study, CDC scientists say the risk to the public “has not changed and remains low.” Risk of infection is highest among people in the dairy and poultry industries who make direct contact with infected animals, or among people, such as the Louisiana man, who keep backyard flocks that could get sick from contact with infected animals in the wild. So far, U.S. health officials have not decided to recommend vaccinating anyone in the country with doses of a previously developed vaccine in the U.S. national stockpile. Newer, updated versions of a vaccine based on the same mRNA technology behind the COVID-19 shots are [currently being developed and tested](https://time.com/7203820/h5n1-new-bird-flu-vaccine-update/) in the event human outbreaks occur and wider vaccination is needed. ## Transcript You've probably been hearing a lot about bird flu in the news lately. New cases of the bird flu are raising alarms among health officials America's first severe human case of h5n1 bird flu. So what is it? Do you need to worry and can you protect yourself? Bird flu is also called h5n1 Avian Influenza. This recent outbreak began in 2024, and what has experts concerned is that it's not only infected millions of birds, but the virus has also spread to dairy cattle and other mammals, including goats, foxes, and house cats. And increasingly, it's been diagnosed in humans. A US man over age 65 with other health conditions became the first to die with h5n1 infection in early 2025. Breaking tonight the nation's first human death from the bird flu just reported. Down from Louisiana here. The Department of Health There. Listen to this. The first person has died from bird flu. Genetic analysis of the virus from that man suggests that h5n1 mutated in his body after he became infected. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said these mutations are concerning, but not a cause for alarm. Yet, symptoms of h5n1 infection can resemble those of more common illnesses. Many of the people in the US who have caught bird flu are farm workers who have come into direct contact with infected cattle or poultry. They have developed relatively mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis like eye issues, eye redness, and discharge from the eyes. Dairy workers who milk infected cows are especially at risk, since the virus can enter their eyes from milk that sprays into their face. Bird flu can also cause respiratory and classic flu like symptoms, including cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat, body aches, headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, and even pneumonia, the CDC says. As bird flu continues to spread, work on a vaccine is underway to protect the public in the event of a pandemic. Several companies, including Maderna, Pfizer, and Glaxo Smith Kline, which is working with Kvak are developing an MRNA vaccine, using the same technology that was used in the COVID 19 shots. In July, the US government awarded Maderna $176 million to develop its updated MRNA h5n vaccine. All of these MRNA vaccine candidates are in early stages of testing in people for safety and efficacy. In 2024, scientists led by a team at the CDC reported that an MRNA based h5n1 vaccine helped ferrets generate strong antibody responses against the virus. Vaccinated animals survived a lethal dose of the virus while unvaccinated ferrets died from their infection. While creating an MRNA vaccine can be done quickly, testing the shot in clinical trials will take longer. So in the meantime, several existing vaccines, which don't use MRNA technology, but do target previous strains of h5n1 exist in the national stockpile. Health experts expect they would still provide some protection against severe disease. Because the virus is spreading among poultry and dairy cattle, the outbreaks are leading to egg rationing and shortages and have led to higher prices. While milk prices are not expected to go up, the US FDA now tests for the virus in commercial milk and other dairy products on a regular basis. The agency also advises staying away from raw milk, which is not pasteurized, a process that can kill the virus. Some experts believe dairy workers and others who have close contact with animals likely to be infected, such as poultry and cattle, should be vaccinated to protect them from infection. The CDC says that the risk of bird flu is still low for the general public. And currently there are no recommendations for anyone in the US to get vaccinated against h5n1. 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