NEW YORK (AP) — A person in Washington state has died from complications of the bird flu, the first such U.S. death in a year.
The Yakima County resident, who had previous health conditions, was exposed to avian influenza at a dairy with infected cattle and had been hospitalized. The person died Sunday, county health officials said.
Two other U.S. deaths have been tied to bird flu since it became a national public health concern in 2024. The first, announced in January 2025, was an elderly person in Louisiana who had a version of bird flu known as H5N1. The other, in Washington state, died in November 2025 from a rarer version called H5N5.
Yakima County officials did not release any additional details about the person who recently died. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the person was infected with H5N1.
County officials have reported that 33 dairy herds recently have tested positive for H5N1.
They say three human infections have been linked to exposure at a dairy, and that the Yakima Health District is working with the state health department to find people who were in close contact with those people and monitor them for symptoms.
The H5N1 bird flu has been spreading widely among wild birds, poultry, cows and other animals for several years. Health concerns escalated in early 2024 when infections spread among U.S. livestock. Its presence in the environment increases the chances that people will be exposed, and potentially catch it, officials have said.
More than 70 human infections have been reported in the U.S. since the beginning of 2024, according to the CDC. But there is no known person-to-person spread and the risk to the general public is low, the agency says.
The agency analyzed the genetic sequence of the virus from the person who died in Washington and found no changes that would make the virus spread more easily or cause more severe illness, a CDC spokesperson said Monday.
Officials continue to urge people who have contact with sick or dead birds to take precautions, including wearing respiratory and eye protection and gloves when handling poultry. People who work on farms are considered to be at higher risk.
The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on March 26, 2024, shows avian influenza A H5N1 virus particles (yellow), grown in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells (blue). (CDC/NIAID via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump closes out midterm season in which voters will judge him, GOP on prices with focus on reflecting pool, DC repairs.
THIS IS AN APNewsAlert. Check back for updates. AP's earlier story is below.
As Republicans and Democrats were making their final pitch to voters on the eve of Election Day, President Donald Trump opted to forgo the campaign trail and instead spoke at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, drawing attention to an expensive, problem-plagued repair job in a place far away from most of the people his party wants to persuade.
It was an unusual place to make a closing argument for Republicans to keep control of Congress. But it conforms with the way the president has devoted considerable time, attention and money in his second term on beautifying his Washington surroundings.
But instead of focusing on issues voters have said they're worried about, Trump dedicated more than 20 minutes at the top of his remarks to the pool, announcing its official re-opening, joking that he wanted to name it after himself, and repeating his false claims that the repair work he ordered was vandalized.
He waxed on about the particular color blue he selected to have the bottom of the pool painted, the kinds of grass and types of columns he had selected for repairs around Washington, and held up a series of blown-up images of rusted pipes taken during the renovation process.
He then started repeating some of his midterm elections pitch, defending his record and attacking Democratic nominees.
Democrats, for their part, were spending the last 24 hours before Election Day making their case in areas where Republicans have long dominated, while trying to contain the fallout from a messy intraparty split in Michigan. Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was brushing aside concerns that his prospects could be hurt after his former primary opponent threw her support behind his Republican opponent Mike Rogers.
In addition to giving the speech on Monday afternoon, Trump also was scheduled to participate in nine telerallies for Republicans, where he uses brief remarks on a mass phone call to plead for voters' support.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, hit the campaign trail with more traditional stops in New York and Ohio, where Republicans were fighting for House and Senate seats.
The Reflecting Pool, a long, narrow basin at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, is one of Washington’s most iconic sites. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the memorial in 1963, looking out over the pool.
But this summer it became a focus of Trump's attention, with the president frequently speaking about his plans for the shallow pool on social media, at the White House and beyond. He displayed posters about the project in the Oval Office and even had his motorcade drive him over the resurfaced pool before it was refilled.
The pool was soon clogged with algae blooms, and its “American-flag blue” liner began peeling and floating up in chunks. The Justice Department charged former Olympian David Hearn with intentionally damaging the Reflecting Pool but then dropped the case this summer after determining he was not responsible.
But the president continues to repeat false claims that vandalism — rather than shoddy workmanship — was to blame for a new blue surface peeling away.
On the platform where he spoke Monday, signs were hanging that said “Restoring Our Capitol” and “The Reflecting Pool." A poster perched on a display board showed the reflecting pool under the words, “Back, and more beautiful than ever!”
The president's message in the closing days of the midterm campaign was similarly detached from voters' concerns about the high cost of living. He's called affordability a “hoax” while boasting to audiences far from the nation's capital about his renovations of the reflecting pool and the White House, along with repeatedly praising the physiques of the GOP's nominees.
Vance stuck closer to the party message as he campaigned Monday in Rome, New York. As he campaigned for Republican House candidates Kailee Buller and Anthony Constantino, he touted Trump's moves to end taxes on tips and overtime and secure the border while branding Democrats as “lunatics" who have contempt for American voters.
Democratic candidates were working to capitalize on widespread disaffection over high prices, the fallout from Trump's war with Iran and historical trends that typically favor the party out of power in midterm elections.
In places like Iowa, where voters have not elected a Democratic governor in two decades, Democrat Rob Sand was asking canvassers knocking on doors to help break that streak.
“This is it," said Sand, who faces Republican Zach Lahn. "We have 30-whatever hours to change the direction of the state of Iowa.”
He was appearing with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, who cited his own races as proof that a Democrat can win over Trump-backed candidates in states like his own and Iowa.
Democrats in Michigan — a key state in their efforts to try to retake the Senate — were trying to keep their coalition together after a shock on Sunday when Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens announced she would back the GOP candidate instead of her party's nominee, appearing at a church service with Mike Rogers.
Stevens — who lost in the primary to Abdul El-Sayed — is a staunch supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a fierce critic of the U.S. ally. He has also been criticized for past remarks regarding a Michigan synagogue attack and for appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker.
El-Sayed, who campaigned on Monday with fellow Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, told supporters worried that Stevens' endorsement could hurt him that “If we’re nervous about where we’re going to go from here, go vote."
Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Ankeny, Iowa, Mike Householder in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Mike Catalini and Moriah Balingit in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump speaks in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, surrounded by his running mate Dave Muhlbauer, left, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, right, speaks to reporters during a canvass launch, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Vice President JD Vance speaks during for a campaign rally at Griffiss International Airport, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026 in Rome, N.Y. (Tom Brenner/Pool Photo via AP)
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a campaign rally at Eastern Michigan University, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ypsilanti, Mich. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The podium is seen where President Donald Trump will speak in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
