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You can help protect yourself against the flu by making sure you wash your hands properly (and often), working to improve your general health and getting your annual flu shot.

Your annual flu shot won't protect you against H5N1, but it will protect you against strains of regular flu likely to be around this year.

Getting a flu shot is a good idea for several reasons. It will reduce the risk of getting sick with ordinary flu and H5N1 simultaneously, preventing the two flu strains from mixing inside your body to potentially create a more dangerous strain.

Getting a flu shot also will help build a stronger market for flu vaccine and encourage expansion of vaccine manufacturing capacity. That extra capacity may be needed if a pandemic vaccine ever needs to be manufactured.

• Cover your cough
  Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
  
• Hand Hygiene
  Washing your hands often with soap and water or hand sanitizers will help protect you from germs.
  
• Stay home when you are sick
  If possible, stay home from work, school and avoid running errands when you are sick. This will help prevent others from catching your illness and the added rest may speed your own recovery.

Do everything you can to improve your health. The healthier you are, the more resistant your body is to disease. Adopting healthy behaviors such as eating nutritious foods, being physically active and avoiding tobacco can prevent or reduce the damage done by many diseases, including influenza.

Getting through a pandemic - or any other major emergency - means knowing what to do, how to do it and when to do it. It means knowing in advance how you will stay in touch with each other.  It also means having essential emergency supplies on hand in case you need to spend an extended period of time at home.

Create an emergency kit of essential tools and supplies for your home and car. Develop a family emergency plan, including information about how you will stay in touch and communicate in an emergency.  Record medical histories, Social Security numbers and contact infomration on the Kentucky Community Information Pocket Guide (PDF Format - 114KB). Ensure your children and family members know who to contact in an emergency. Don't forget to check on your neighbors and the elderly in your community.

Other resources for family preparedness include:

• Pandemic Flu Planning Checklist for Individuals and Families(PDF Format - 167KB) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
• Family Emergency Health Information Sheet (PDF Format - 169KB) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
• Get Pandemic Ready  Practical solutions for individuals and families by the Get Pandemic Ready Team, a grassroots volunteer organization

The Stay-at-Home Toolkit is currently under construction. Check back soon for more information on this valuable planning tool.

State officials are urging people not to buy and stockpile their own antiviral medications for a number of reasons.

• There aren't enough antiviral drugs for everybody.
  
• Some people won't need antivirals and it is difficult to identify in advance those individuals who will need them the most.
  
• To help ensure that antivirals are available for those most in need, public health workers and health care providers must be in a position to manage available supplies of these drugs. That won't be possible if they are being stockpiled by private individuals.
  
• Indiscriminate use of antivirals may increase the possibility that the pandemic virus will be come resistant to these drugs, potentially making them useless. Some strains of avian flu are already developing resistance to Tamiflu.
  
• Personal stockpiling may reduce the available supplies of antivirals, making it harder to treat seasonal flu in the elderly and others who face an immediate risk of serious illness and death from complications of the flu.
  
• The shelf life of Tamiflu is only five years and no one knows how long it may be before a pandemic occurs.
  
• At $5 per pill, not everyone will be able to afford a personal stockpile.

It is safe to eat properly handled and cooked poultry. The U.S. government has banned imported poultry from countries affected by various strains of bird flu, including H5N1.

• Cook to Proper Temperatures 
  Guidelines to help you properly cook poultry, roasts, eggs and more.

Yes. The CDC does not recommend avoiding travel to any of the countries affected by H5N1; but, travelers are advised to take certain precautions. When traveling to a country with avian influenza outbreaks, travelers should avoid contact with live poultry and carefully monitor their health.

Outbreak Notice Update: Human Infection with Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus in Asia