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National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Implementation Plan

Visit PandemicFlu.gov for access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information.

November 1, 2005 President Bush announced the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. The Strategy lays out how the federal government is preparing for, and will detect and respond to, a potential outbreak.

Since then, the federal government has released the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. This first-of-its-kind interagency planning document describes more than 300 critical actions, many of which have already been initiated, to address the threat of a human pandemic.

Seasonal (or common) flu is a respiratory illness that can be transmitted person to person. Most people have some immunity, and a vaccine is available.

Avian (or bird) flu is caused by flu viruses that occur naturally among wild birds. The H5N1 variant is deadly to domestic fowl and can be transmitted from birds to humans. There is no human immunity and no vaccine is available.

Pandemic flu is virulent human flu that causes a global outbreak, or pandemic, of serious illness. Because there is little natural immunity, the disease can spread easily from person to person. Currently, there is no pandemic flu.

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