 Hello, I'm Colonel Lauren Erickson of the Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, also known as GEIS. Our mission is to detect, monitor and respond to infectious diseases that threaten our military personnel and their families. We're actively monitoring cases of influenza around the world. By now, most of you have heard about avian influenza or bird flu, and that it might be the source of the next influenza pandemic. Pandemic flu is actually a term for a new flu virus that is very contagious among people and can spread quickly, causing large outbreaks around the world. Many scientists agree that an influenza pandemic is likely to occur in the foreseeable future. This video will describe how an influenza pandemic could affect you and help you with your preparations. Let's begin by explaining the differences between seasonal, pandemic and avian flu. The seasonal flu is what we commonly refer to as the flu. It is called seasonal flu because more people typically get sick during the winter months. There are many strains of seasonal flu. They all cause a respiratory illness that can be spread to other people by coughing, sneezing and touching contaminated surfaces. Many people, especially the very young and old, do get sick and 36,000 people die each year from seasonal flu, but most people who get sick fully recover. Getting a flu shot or flu mist each year is your best protection against seasonal flu. A pandemic flu is a much more devastating event than an outbreak of the seasonal flu. It is caused by a new flu virus or one that hasn't circulated in a long time. That is hard for our bodies to fight off because we have little or no immunity to the strain. This type of flu can spread easily from person to person. Flu vaccine is usually in good supply for seasonal flu, but in a pandemic, vaccine may not be available for six months or more. There were three pandemic flu outbreaks during the 20th century. By far the most devastating was the influenza outbreak in 1918. Within six months between 1918 and 1919, millions of people died. Nearly half of those who died were young, healthy adults. A pandemic flu can spread quickly from person to person and around the world, infecting a large portion of the population. Currently there is no pandemic flu, but there are many experts who are concerned that avian flu could lead to the next pandemic. Avian or bird flu is an illness that occurs naturally in wild birds. One type, H5N1 is deadly to birds and can be passed from birds to humans. This strain of avian flu is what most of us refer to as the bird flu. Doctors began seeing bird flu in a very small number of people in Southeast Asia in 2003. Since then the illness has spread away from this region through the movement of infected birds. Although it is not a pandemic, it has caused serious illness in the small number of people infected and more than half of them have died. The people infected often live or work directly with poultry. The threat of avian flu might worry you if you're planning to travel overseas. You can travel safely to areas affected by bird flu if you follow a few precautions. Avoid contact with birds, especially in live bird markets or local farms. Eat only fully cooked poultry, egg or duck dishes. And clean your hands frequently. If you become sick while traveling, contact the local U.S. Embassy. They can assist you in locating medical services and informing your family and friends. You can also contact the local State Department officers online at the State Department website shown here. After you return home from an infected area, watch your health closely for 10 days. If you become ill, tell your health care provider your symptoms, where you traveled, and if you had close contact with birds or sick people. The Department of Defense is acting to protect you and your family in the event of a pandemic flu. Our medical departments have been stockpiling medical items that will be needed, for instance medications and personal protective equipment. Early detection of a pandemic flu is important because the sooner our public health experts realize there is a problem, the sooner they can identify the proper vaccine and take action to control the spread of the illness. The Department of Defense Global Emerging Infection System, or GEIS, has some 80 sites around the world to detect and track outbreaks of influenza. The efforts that DOD is taking will be invaluable in the event of a pandemic flu, but you cannot rely on these preparations alone to protect yourself and your family. Planning and preparing for a pandemic illness is everyone's responsibility. During a severe pandemic flu, up to one-half of the community could be sick and unable to work. This could disrupt virtually every aspect of daily life for up to 12 weeks. You need to start thinking about what you will do if the services you depend on are not available. Imagine the effects on your family and community if hospitals are overflowing. If schools, banks and post offices are closed. If services such as telephone, water and power are disrupted. Stores may close or have limited supplies. You may not even be able to rely on public transportation. Consider that the ability to travel, even by car if there are fuel shortages, may be limited. Preparing for disruptions like these to your daily life from a severe pandemic may sound overwhelming, but you can organize your preparations in two main steps. Step number one, visit the pandemicflu.gov website. The website is full of information on avian and pandemic influenza and provides planning checklist to help you put together your own emergency kit. Save this website address because it will also be one of the first places you should go for information and public health guidance in the event of a pandemic flu. Step number two, put together your own emergency kit. This kit will include items your family will need in any disaster. You need at least two weeks of food, water and medicines in your home in the event of an emergency. You should also have a flashlight, batteries and radio. These items need to be stored together and everyone in your home needs to know where to find them. It is also important that your kit include personal and medical information. The checklist from pandemicflu.gov is a good starting point for medical information your family might need in an emergency. Be sure to include who to call within your chain of command in the event of any type of disaster. The American Red Cross website, www.redcross.org also has information on general disaster preparedness. Make sure you keep all of your supplies and personal information up to date so it will be ready when you need it. The best way to stop the spread of flu is to minimize close contact with the sick. When a pandemic flu hits, it will be imperative that sick people stay home and that healthy people who are not needed to care for the sick go to work. If we all stay home out of fear of catching the flu, then critical services in this country will stop. During a pandemic, people may go to hospitals because they suspect they are sick with the flu. To prevent overload on our medical resources and to protect yourself from exposure to other sick people, only go to the hospital if you or one of your loved ones becomes very ill and needs medical assistance. Good personal hygiene is key to preventing the spread of flu germs. Always cough or sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue and throw the tissue in the waste basket. Clean your hands often and especially after coughing, sneezing or using the bathroom and before eating. Use soap and water or an alcohol based cleaner. You may be asked to wear a mask to protect others. If the situation becomes serious, local authorities may use social distancing to prevent the spread of influenza. Schools, shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where large groups of people gather may be closed. Two other actions that public health authorities may take during a pandemic are isolation and quarantine. Basically, isolation is the separation of sick people from healthy people and quarantine is the separation of healthy people who have been exposed to the flu from those who have not. Take time to learn more about influenza. There are many products and websites available. Last but not least, stay up to date with the latest recommendations from public health experts. They will rely on the media, television, radio, newspaper and the internet to deliver information that we will all need to follow to help contain the spread of the illness. The Department of Defense will be using the DOD watch board website to update military personnel on pandemic influenza. You've now learned about pandemic flu and how to prepare for it. By following the advice given in this video, you'll be ready to help control the spread of the illness and care for yourself and your family when the next influenza pandemic strikes. Visit the DOD pandemic influenza watch board now to learn more about influenza and to start working on your personal emergency kit. Remember, it's everyone's responsibility to plan and prepare for an influenza pandemic.