WASHINGTON — The Louisiana Department of Health said Monday that a U.S. patient hospitalized with H5N1 bird flu had died, the country's first death from an outbreak of the virus that has sickened dozens of people and millions of poultry and cattle.

Nearly 70 people in the U.S. have contracted bird flu since April, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of them livestock workers exposed to sick chickens or dairy cattle.

The patient in Louisiana, the first person in the country to be hospitalized with the virus, contracted bird flu after exposure to a combination of backyard chickens and wild birds, said Louisiana health officials. The patient was hospitalized on Dec. 18, state health officials said.

The patient was over 65 and had underlying medical conditions, the officials said.

"While the current public health risk for the general public remains low, people who work with birds, poultry or cows, or have recreational exposure to them, are at higher risk," the department said in a statement.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(VOA/DM)