A patient death in Louisiana has become the first in the nation to be linked to the highly contagious bird flu, which has been spreading among wild birds across the country.

The first US 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 CDC previously confirmed the first severe human case of bird flu in Louisiana, but now the CDC has confirmed a virus mutation. Find out more here