A Louisiana patient is the first person in the United States to die as a result of H5N1 infection. One expert likens what happens next to Russian roulette.

Bird flu, also known as avian influenza or H5N1, has infected more than 130 million birds over the past two years as it threatened commercial bird operations and recently led to the first human death in the United States.

The patient, who was older than 65 and had underlying medical conditions, was hospitalized weeks ago in critical condition with severe respiratory illness.