A child in California has the bird flu, the first case of its kind in the U.S., reported the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The California Department of Public Health put out a release about the case in the Oakland-Alameda County area Tuesday, and the CDC confirmed the child was sick with bird flu Friday.

CDPH officials are investigating whether a wild bird could have infected the child via exposure. The child’s cold and flu-like symptoms were mild and consistent with other respiratory viruses.

While others in the patient’s household also had respiratory symptoms and tested positive for other viruses, none of them were found to have bird flu, the CDC said. There has been no confirmed human-to-human transmission of bird flu within the U.S. as of yet.

Bird flu has been detected in wild and domestic birds in California since 2022 and in dairy cattle there since August, the CDC said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.