The first person to have a severe case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States has died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

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 U.S. 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.