Utah's pandemic flu plan, released in November, shares one definite message with the federal report released Wednesday: Individual preparedness will be crucial because the government's not set up to take care of everything, a Utah health expert says.

"The first thing we need to reinforce is that pandemic preparation does not mean pandemic influenza avoidance," said Susan Mottice, an epidemiologist in the Utah Department of Health. "If people think we are planning so they will not get sick, they are not coming away with the correct information. Individual actions and accountability are the most important elements of the plan."

The state has a work group assessing what would need to be done and will soon name members of a task force of higher-level officials to focus on policy issues. That group is expected to meet about four times.

What the state can do effectively, Mottice says, is see that individuals, businesses, schools and faith-based organizations have information they need to help them prepare for a pandemic. The state will even plan to have checklists available soon.

Right now there are things that groups can do to prepare, since history says every so often there's a pandemic. Even if bird flu never turns deadly for humans, the preparation will be important, and pandemic preparation is a lot like any disaster planning, "so time won't be wasted if it doesn't come. This is a marathon, a long-term process. History tells us that an infectious disease outbreak that we will not have the tools to fight always comes."

People may be taking infectious disease and its deadly potential for granted because they've been sheltered by vaccinations and antibiotics.

Utah health experts are working with hospitals to help them prepare for a mass caregiving situation, putting together infection-control guidelines (a challenge since no one's sure which infection will actually trigger need) and mechanisms to produce and distribute them, preparing a mass-vaccination process (in case a vaccine is available) and rebuilding infrastructure to aid in mass caregiving. They're also putting together a strong message on how to prevent spreading an infectious disease and making certain there are no legal barriers to stop health officials from taking action as needed to prevent spread, Mottice says.

In all, she adds, "very much involves a collaboration with community partners. Clearly the government is not doing this alone."

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