U.S. Health Officials Unveil Flu Pandemic Plan

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But despite recent reports that a pandemic may not be close-at-hand, U.S. health officials are still concerned.

"The media buzz may have died down, but the H5N1 virus has not," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told the teleconference. "The disease is highly pathogenic and continues to spread. We can't be certain that H5N1 will be the spark of the next pandemic, but we can be sure there will be another pandemic."

"Pandemic influenza is not necessarily imminent, but we believe it is inevitable," Gerberding added.

The new initiative consists of two components.

The first is a "community mitigation guide," which outlines specific steps for communities to take depending on the severity of the pandemic. Recommendations include asking ill persons to stay at home until they are no longer contagious in the case of a level 1 situation; closing schools and child-care programs for up to three months in the case of a more severe pandemic; canceling public meetings; and asking people to work from home.

Such measures admittedly have a downside, officials stated. For instance, adults may have to stay home from work to tend to children who can no longer go to school. And communities will need to take these into account. "We've got some real tough decisions here," Gerberding said. "There are a lot of dilemmas."

A recent Harvard study found that one in four adults said they had no one to care for them at home if they did fall ill. Another one in four said they could not afford to miss work for one week.

Not all communities are expected to implement all the guidelines.

"This is a complete list," Gerberding said. "What an individual or community does depends on local circumstance."

But the earlier the plans are implemented, the better, Gerberding added.

The second component of the initiative is a public service announcement (PSA) campaign that will direct people to a government web site.

"This guidance is interim," Gerberding said. "This was our best effort right now, but we fully expect that as we learn more, we're going to need to update this planning tool."

More information

For more on the new pandemic efforts, visit pandemicflu.gov.