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By Faye James
US news reporter
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A Washington state resident has died after contracting H5N1 bird flu following exposure to infected cattle at a Yakima County dairy, health officials said.
The resident had underlying health conditions and was hospitalized before dying on Sunday, according to Yakima County officials. The death is the first reported in the U.S. in a year and the third since bird flu became a national public health concern in 2024.
The outbreak has affected dairy herds in two Washington counties. The Washington State Department of Agriculture’s tracker lists 39 infected Yakima County herds and one in Benton County through October 30. Yakima County’s dashboard, updated November 1, lists 33 Yakima herds through October 29; the six additional Yakima herds on the state tracker were confirmed October 30.
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The human case count also differs between public dashboards. Yakima County lists three confirmed human cases, while the Washington State Department of Health’s online table lists one confirmed dairy-associated case in 2026. The state table may not reflect the latest county updates.
Newsweek has reached out for comment from the CDC, Washington health and agriculture officials, the dairy industry and an infectious-disease expert via email outside office hours.
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Where Dairy Herds Have Tested Positive
The state’s current detections are concentrated in Yakima County, with one reported herd in neighboring Benton County. Washington’s first two cattle detections were confirmed in Yakima County on October 8. The state tracker subsequently recorded additional herds there, as well as a Benton County detection on October 23.
The county-level figures identify the areas where cattle infections have been reported, but do not identify individual farms. The state says infected herds are quarantined and subject to biosecurity measures. The virus can spread among cattle through infected animals and contaminated milk, equipment, vehicles, clothing and footwear.
The outbreak is part of a wider H5N1 spread among birds and mammals. USDA said dairy cattle in 19 states had been infected since the outbreak began in March 2024, although detections in 2026 had been reported in a smaller number of states as of its October 8 update.
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What Health Officials Say About the Risk
The CDC says the risk to the general public remains low, and there is no known person-to-person transmission in the U.S. Yakima County says people who work with infected cattle or in environments contaminated by the virus face a higher risk.
The CDC’s latest nationwide summary, posted October 15, listed 72 U.S. human cases and two deaths since 2024, before the Washington death was reported. The agency’s summary said most cases had been associated with exposure to infected animals.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture said genetic sequencing of the virus from two Yakima County farms found a cow-adapted strain that has circulated in dairy cattle since 2024. The agency said it had found no evidence of adaptation to mammals or transmission between people in that analysis.
Officials have advised people who work around infected animals to use appropriate protective equipment. The state says pasteurization inactivates H5N1 in milk, and pasteurized milk products remain safe; raw milk from infected animals can carry the virus.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Emma Lee-Sang
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