Oof, that's sad. My heart goes out to this person's family.

33 herds seems like a lot? Is it? We had another person die of avian flu last year if my memory serves me right.

This is the first person in the United States to die from complications from bird flu this year, according to the Associated Press. It comes as officials in Yakima county have reported that since early October, 33 dairy herds have tested positive for “highly pathogenic avian influenza”.

The Yakima health district has said that it, in coordination with the Washington state department of health, is monitoring human cases of bird flu in Yakima county. So far, the district has recorded three confirmed human cases in the county.

In Sunday’s statement, the health district announced the county’s third confirmed human case of bird flu. The individual was “exposed to infected dairy cattle at a Yakima county dairy”, but has not experienced severe illness or required hospitalization.