Tamiflu is a prescription antiviral medicine commonly used for seasonal influenza that is being offered as a preventative measure for avian influenza, said Dr. Steven Krager, the interim health officer for Benton and Franklin counties. It also is being offered to workers who have symptoms or have tested positive to help them fight the infection.

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention confirmed two human cases of avian influenza in Washington on Thursday following an outbreak on a commercial poultry farm.

The Washington State Department of Health says neither person has experienced severe illness or been hospitalized.

Bird flu has possibly infected four agricultural workers in Washington state, according to the Washington State Department of Health. In a press release Sunday, the Washington State Department of

Officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today said serologic testing has ruled out H5 avian flu infection among five healthcare workers who had symptoms around the time they were exposed to a patient in Missouri, though results suggest a household contact was likely infected at the same time.

A second person in Missouri who wasn't exposed to either poultry or dairy cows has been infected with bird flu, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.

Federal health authorities have confirmed at least two people in Washington have contracted bird flu after working around poultry with the virus at a commercial egg farm in Franklin County. State and local health officials on Sunday revealed four people in Washington were “presumptively” positive for the illness,

Human and animal health agencies are working closely together to prevent further spread and better understand this strain of the illness.