The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging health care workers to accelerate bird flu testing for patients hospitalized with flu symptoms.

America's first human death from bird flu occurred in Louisiana, where an elderly resident succumbed to the H5N1 virus after exposure to infected backyard birds. The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed on January 6 that the patient,

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging health care workers to accelerate bird flu testing for patients hospitalized with flu symptoms, as the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak continues to grow in the United States and Canada.

The U.S. reported its first human death from H5N1 bird flu, marking a significant milestone in the outbreak. The patient was over 65 with underlying health conditions and was hospitalized in Louisiana in December.

The CDC is monitoring developments closely because the United States is in the middle of flu season. With more patients flooding hospitals seeking care for seasonal flu, testing for avian influenza could slow down, and that could delay public health measures needed to prevent disease spread.

No other people were found to have been sickened by the virus in Louisiana. "CDC has carefully studied the available information about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that the risk to the general public remains low. Most ...

Learn about the CDC's new measures for clinicians, including prompt testing for bird flu and antiviral treatment, to respond to the outbreak.

The first U.S. bird flu death has been reported — a person in Louisiana who had been hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms. State health officials announced the death on Monday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed it was the nation's first due to bird flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released an advisory recommending clinicians expedite subtyping of type A influenza samples from hospitalized patients, particularly individuals in an intensive care unit.

The CDC is calling for expanded testing of bird flu after a child in California tested positive for the virus despite no known contact with animals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitals treating people for the flu should test them for avian influenza within 24 hours.

The CDC on Thursday urged labs nationwide to determine within 24 hours of admission whether people hospitalized with the flu have seasonal influenza or are infected with the bird flu that's behind an escalating outbreak in dairy cows and poultry.