A Grays Harbor resident who was hospitalized with influenza symptoms in early November has been confirmed to have influenza A H5, a type of avian influenza. Additional testing shows the virus to be H5N5, an avian influenza virus that has previously been reported in animals but never before in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and DOH currently consider the risk to the public from avian influenza to be low.

Gray whales are dying at twice the usual rate as a brutal migration unfolds, with whales washing up on Washington state beaches, apparently starved to death.