US Finds First Severe Bird Flu Case; California Calls Emergency

A Louisiana resident has been hospitalized with bird flu, marking the first severe human case of avian influenza in the US, while California declared a state of emergency to respond to the growing outbreak among dairy cows.

The Louisiana patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks, and an investigation into the source of the infection is still ongoing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. There’s no evidence the virus known as H5N1 is spreading from person-to-person, and the risk to humans remains low, the agency said.

There have been 61 human cases ...