TIPS AGAINST AVIAN FLU

Should a bird-flu pandemic roost in Minnesota, officials there recommend chicken soup in a flu care kit, hair of the dog if there ever was. New Hampshire urges frequent hand-washing and staying home from work or school if you’re sick to limit the spread of the flu. And unlike most states, Montana health officials reportedly don’t plan to decide until next year whether to stockpile anti-viral medicine to deal with a pandemic because it’s not clear which medicine would be effective.

Fewer than 150 human cases of bird flu have been documented worldwide, the most serious of which was in 2003 in Southeast Asia where poultry was the likely carrier to humans. Bird flu is of concern because it mutates rapidly and once in humans could spread fast, with more serious health effects than typical flu. It is important to note that there is no bird-flu pandemic now.

Hospitals seem to know what to do in the case of an outbreak; police and fire too. Maine has plans in place for emergencies generally and is refining its pandemic flu plans, including, crucially, what individuals are supposed to do. A quick review of several state strategies leads to some patterns. Here’s a sample.

Have an emergency supply on hand of food, water, batteries and other necessities for your family to live in isolation for three to five days. Maine calls this an all-hazards kit, and it may be useful in the event of a pandemic.

Families also should develop a plan for who would be contacted through what telephone numbers or e-mail if an outbreak did occur and where the family would seek treatment.

Hand-washing is big in all states, also staying out of the line of sneezes and covering your mouth if you do sneeze.

Some limits on travel to Asian countries that have more serious outbreaks of bird flu is recommended – for instance, visits to poultry farms there are discouraged.

An annual flu shot doesn’t protect against the bird-flu strain, H5N1, but can be protective against other strains that are more common and could help you better fight H5N1 if you do catch it.

State health offices use the possibility of bird flu to slip in promotion for general good health – diet and exercise – as a way to weather the virus.

The White House offers www.pandemicflu.gov, which is to provide regular updates on national and international flu outbreaks.

Maine Bureau of Health Director Dora Mills says predicting whether the bird flu will hit is like predicting an earthquake. There are signs and there is the certainty that it will arrive eventually, but whether it will arrive in two weeks, two years or 20 years is unknown.