As of early May 2026, the CDC has recorded 71 confirmed human cases of A(H5) bird flu in the United States since February 2024. One person has died. Those numbers come directly from the CDC's "A(H5) Bird Flu: Current Situation" page, which was last updated with data through April 25, 2026. That's the headline figure you're looking for: 71 human infections, 1 death, in roughly 14 months of active tracking.
How Many Cases of Bird Flu in the US Are There?
Sarah Chen
2 May 2026
The current U.S. human case count, broken down
The 71 cases are specifically A(H5) avian influenza infections confirmed in people. The vast majority are linked to direct exposure to infected dairy cattle or poultry, meaning farm workers, agricultural employees, and others with close animal contact make up most of the case list. These are not cases of community spread or person-to-person transmission. The CDC's surveillance monitoring page, updated May 1, 2026 with data as of April 29, 2026, shows no indicators of unusual influenza activity in the general population, including no signal of widespread A(H5) circulation in people.
It's also worth knowing that the CDC updates its "Animal and epidemiologically linked human cases" data on the first Friday of every month. So if you're checking between update cycles, the numbers may lag a few weeks behind the actual situation on the ground. The most recent data window runs through April 25, 2026.
How many people have died from bird flu in the U.S.
One person has died. The CDC announced the first U.S. H5 bird flu death on January 6, 2025, involving a hospitalized patient in Louisiana with severe A(H5N1) illness. In this case, the patient was hospitalized in Louisiana, but the public reporting does not always break down the exact town or facility where exposure happened where in Louisiana the bird flu death occurred. That remains the only confirmed U.S. fatality tied to A(H5) bird flu as of this writing. To put that in context: out of 71 confirmed human cases, 1 death gives a case fatality rate well under 2% in this domestic outbreak context, and even that figure is shaped heavily by the population being monitored (people with known, direct animal exposure).
The Louisiana case understandably got significant media attention. If you’re specifically asking how many cases of bird flu in Louisiana have been confirmed in people, the Louisiana patient referenced by the CDC is the key point to start from. If you're trying to separate death count from total case count in your research, those are the two figures to anchor on: 71 total confirmed human cases, 1 confirmed death, both tracked since February 2024.
Human cases vs. poultry outbreaks: these are very different numbers
This is where a lot of confusion happens. The 71-case figure refers only to human infections, meaning people who tested positive for A(H5) bird flu. It has nothing to do with the number of poultry flocks affected, dairy herds infected, or birds that have been culled. Those animal-side numbers are tracked separately by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and they are orders of magnitude larger. Hundreds of millions of birds have been affected in U.S. poultry flocks since HPAI H5N1 re-emerged. That's a completely different count.
The CDC has explicitly redirected readers: HPAI detections in animals are no longer reported on the CDC website. For animal outbreak data, the authoritative source is the USDA APHIS H5N1 HPAI landing page. The CDC focuses its reporting on the human side. Keeping those two data streams separate is essential to understanding what you're actually reading when you see a headline with a number in it.
If you're specifically curious about which states have seen human cases, or where bird flu in cows has been confirmed by state, those geographic breakdowns are covered in related sections of this site and can help you understand where the exposure risk has actually been concentrated. A state-by-state view of which states have bird flu in cows is typically updated alongside the latest USDA dairy and animal outbreak reporting. If you want a state-by-state look, use the related sections that summarize where bird flu in humans has been reported which states have seen human cases. If you want a state-by-state view, this article points to the sections that summarize where human bird flu cases have been reported which states have seen human cases.
What counts as a "case" and how reporting works
Not every sick person who might have been exposed shows up in the case count. The CDC defines a confirmed case as one where CDC laboratory testing has positively identified A(H5) influenza. There is also a "probable" case category, used when a public health laboratory detects H5 but CDC confirmation testing is not yet complete. The CDC uses CSTE (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists) guidance to apply this probable case definition.
In practice, this means the 71 figure reflects laboratory-confirmed detections, mostly in people who were symptomatic and got tested because of a known animal exposure. Asymptomatic infections in farm workers, or mild cases that were never tested, would not appear in this count. Several seroprevalence studies have looked at whether actual exposure rates in agricultural workers are higher than case counts suggest, and some do find higher antibody rates than the case count implies. The official 71 is a confirmed floor, not necessarily a ceiling.
Where to find real-time numbers and how to verify them
For the most current human case data, go directly to two CDC pages: the "A(H5) Bird Flu: Current Situation" page and the "A(H5) Bird Flu Surveillance and Human Monitoring" page. For the specific question of where have bird flu cases been reported, you can use the CDC's current human situation and monitoring pages to see the latest geographic reporting. Both are updated on a regular schedule, with the monitoring page clearly showing a data-as-of date so you know exactly how current the numbers are. Always check that date before citing or sharing any figure.
- CDC "A(H5) Bird Flu: Current Situation" page: total human case count, death count, and case summaries
- CDC "A(H5) Bird Flu Surveillance and Human Monitoring" page: updated monthly on the first Friday, shows data-as-of date clearly
- CDC FluView: linked from the monitoring page for ongoing influenza surveillance across all types
- USDA APHIS H5N1 HPAI page: animal-side detections, flock and herd outbreak data by state
When you land on any of these pages, look for two dates: the "data through" date (the last date events are counted) and the "data as of" date (when the page was last compiled). For example, the current CDC monitoring page shows data through April 25, 2026 and was compiled as of April 29, 2026. A four-day lag between events and publication is normal and expected for this kind of surveillance reporting.
Avoid relying on news headlines for specific case counts. Reporters sometimes conflate human cases with animal detections, or cite state-level numbers without making clear whether those are cumulative or current. The primary sources above give you the verified, methodology-consistent numbers.
What 71 cases actually means for your everyday life
Seventy-one human cases across the entire United States over 14-plus months, mostly in people with direct farm animal exposure, represents a very low public health risk for the general population. The CDC explicitly states the current public health risk is low and that surveillance systems show no unusual influenza activity in people. That's not spin, it's what the data shows.
That said, "low risk" doesn't mean zero risk, and the precautions that make sense depend on whether you have farm exposure or not. Here's how to think about it practically:
| Who you are | Your actual risk level | Sensible precaution |
|---|---|---|
| General public, no farm contact | Very low | No special steps needed beyond normal hygiene |
| Backyard poultry or hobby farmer | Low but present | Avoid handling sick or dead birds barehanded; report unusual die-offs to your state ag department |
| Commercial poultry or dairy worker | Moderate with direct exposure | Use PPE (gloves, eye protection) around infected or suspect animals; follow employer biosecurity protocols |
| Someone in a state with active outbreaks | Low in the community | No community spread detected; check state health dept updates if you have farm exposure |
On the food safety side: commercially produced eggs and pasteurized dairy are safe. Pasteurization kills H5N1, and properly cooked poultry (internal temp of 165°F) eliminates any viral risk. The concern about food safety is more relevant to raw or unpasteurized products, particularly raw milk, which the CDC advises against consuming during active dairy herd outbreaks.
The situation bears watching as the outbreak in dairy cattle has expanded, but the human case count, while it has grown since early 2024, has not shown the kind of exponential jump that would indicate efficient person-to-person spread. Monitoring the CDC and USDA sources regularly is the right move, especially if you're in an agricultural community or a state with active detections.
FAQ
Why do some news stories report a different “number of bird flu cases” than the CDC figure of 71?
Most mismatches come from mixing human confirmed infections with animal detections, or from using counts that include “probable” classifications without stating that they are not CDC-lab confirmed. Another common issue is using older snapshots from earlier update cycles, since the CDC human monitoring table updates on a regular monthly schedule.
Does the 71 include “probable” A(H5) cases, or only lab-confirmed ones?
The headline 71 is for CDC laboratory-confirmed A(H5) influenza infections in humans. “Probable” cases are a separate category used when a state or public health lab detects H5 but CDC confirmation is pending, so they are not part of the confirmed total unless explicitly stated.
If someone tested positive for influenza A but not A(H5), is that counted toward the 71?
No. The CDC total is specific to A(H5) influenza. A standard seasonal flu test result or a different influenza subtype would not be included unless A(H5) was identified and confirmed through the CDC-defined testing pathway.
How can I tell whether the CDC number is current when I see it quoted online?
Check two dates on the CDC surveillance page, the “data through” date and the “data as of” date. If the article you are reading does not mention those dates, treat the number as potentially outdated, since there can be a short reporting lag between events and publication.
Is the 71 a cumulative number since February 2024, or just the number in the last month?
It is cumulative over the surveillance period described by the CDC, not a one-month count. That is why the figure keeps increasing over time even when there is no evidence of unusual spread in the community.
Does “cases of bird flu” mean people caught it from other people?
In the U.S. data summarized by the CDC for A(H5), cases are primarily tied to direct exposure to infected animals, not person-to-person transmission. If you see a claim suggesting community spread, look for wording about transmission chains and whether the case definition is human A(H5) confirmation versus animal detections.
Are there additional human case categories besides the confirmed 71 and the single death?
Yes. The CDC surveillance framework distinguishes confirmed cases from probable cases, and reporting focuses on A(H5) confirmed infections. Death reporting may also reflect timing of outcomes and case confirmation status, so totals can appear to change slightly as final classifications are completed.
Why might the true number of infections be higher than 71?
Because 71 reflects confirmed lab detections, mostly among symptomatic people who were tested after known exposure. If infections are mild or asymptomatic and no H5-specific testing occurs, those infections would not be captured in the confirmed count, which is why serology studies can sometimes indicate higher exposure than case counts alone suggest.
Does the 71 tell me how many cows or poultry flocks are infected?
No. Human case numbers and animal outbreak detections are tracked separately. The human count is for confirmed human infections, while animal infections and detections are monitored under USDA APHIS reporting, and those numbers are much larger.
If I am trying to estimate risk for my family, what “figure” should I focus on?
For household planning, focus on whether there is an active confirmed human outbreak signal in the general population, not just the cumulative human total. If you do have farm or dairy exposure, the relevant action steps are about limiting contact with sick animals and avoiding raw/unpasteurized dairy products, because food safety and exposure history drive practical risk more than the national cumulative count.
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