Partial CDC data suggest that influenza deaths may have already reached as high as 2% of deaths for the week ending on Feb. 1, also surpassing COVID-19 mortality nationwide which was holding at around 1.5%. More complete data is expected to be published Friday.

During the first years of the COVID pandemic, elevated precautions mostly suppressed the perennial flu outbreaks that typically kill between 10,000 and 50,000 people annually in the United States.

For the first time the pandemic began, deaths from influenza have outpaced deaths from COVID-19 in 22 states, plus New York City and Washington, D.C. Dr. Jon LaPook has the latest numbers.

Federal health officials say a dairy worker in Nevada has been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has been spreading in U.S. herds since last year.

Nevada has confirmed its first human case of bird flu in a farm worker who was exposed to infected dairy cattle, the Central Nevada Health District said on Monday, after authorities last week reported a second strain of the virus in cows in the state.

Nevada just confirmed its first human case of avian flu from infected cattle. Nevada’s first case was found in Churchill County, the Central Nevada Health District announced on Monday. The infected person — who showed signs of conjunctivitis but had no other symptoms — is recovering.