Over the past two decades, at least 500 people worldwide have died from bird flu known as H5N1. However, the U.S. just experienced its very first bird flu fatality in Louisiana. As The New York Times reported, a senior with underlying medical conditions was hospitalized and died from bird flu around the start of the new year.

With reports of the first human death from bird flu in the US, some Americans are feeling an uncomfortable flashback to the early days of Covid-19, when infectious disease experts were talking about a new virus that was sending people to the hospital with respiratory infections.

Two months shy of the fifth anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic, the US has recorded its first human death as a result of avian influenza H5N1 infection. The unidentified Louisiana man contracted the virus through contact with infected wild and domestic birds on his property

Louisiana has reported the first U.S. fatality from avian influenza. Most of the country’s human cases have been mild

On Monday, Louisiana health officials announced that a person hospitalized last month with a severe case of avian influenza — also known as H5N1 bird flu — died. This is the first human death from bird flu in the U.S.

A researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said the bird flu virus needs to be taken seriously so it doesn’t become the next pandemic.

The patient, who was older than 65 and had underlying medical conditions, was hospitalized weeks ago in critical condition with severe respiratory illness.

The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported. Louisiana health officials announced the death Monday of a person who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms.

For influenza viruses, imperfection is a strength. They constantly mutate, producing new strains that challenge immune systems primed to fight earlier varieties. That’s what makes flu a life-long threat to humans and the animal species — mainly birds — that are vulnerable to it.