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.

The bird flu, also known as avian influenza and H5N1, was implicated in the first human death from the infectious disease on January 6. But still, no human-to-human transmission has been reported.

The CDC confirmed the first US-based severe human case of H5N1 bird flu in Louisiana in December. The Louisiana Department of Health reported Monday that the patient had died. The LDH revealed that the patient was over age 65,