The Hawai´i State Department of Health (DOH) is reporting that a wastewater sample from Kaua´i County tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza. The sample was collected at a site in East Kaua´i on Oct. 14, 2026. DOH was notified of the result on Oct. 26. This is the first detection of the H5N1 virus associated with this year’s seasonal bird migration and the first detection of genotype D1.1 in Hawai´i.

In the United States, genotype D1.1 has become the predominant genotype in infected wildlife and domestic poultry and there have also been isolated events of D1.1 infecting dairy cattle. DOH continues to test milk from the local dairy and there have been no detections of H5N1. A small number of human cases of genotype D1.1 have been reported nationally. Human cases of avian flu are rare, and most cases have not caused severe illness. No human-to-human transmission of H5N1 has been reported. Genotype A3 was the strain previously detected in Hawai´i.