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

Bird flu is suspected to have caused the death of multiple wild birds recovered across the state last week, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife announced. At least seven snow geese, two Canada geese, and two hawks have yielded presumptive positive results so far for avian influenza,

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. The older adult is believed to have contracted the disease from a backyard poultry flock and wild birds,

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.