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Health Advisory on Self Protection for
travel to/through or living in outbreak regions
The following recommendations are directed to people
and their recognized dependents travelling to/through or living in areas
where avian influenza A (H5N1) outbreaks among poultry or human H5N1 cases
have been reported. These recommendations may be revised as more information
becomes available.
 To
minimize the possibility of infection, observe precautions to safeguard your
health. Specifically, travelers should avoid touching live or dead poultry
(e.g., chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quail) or
any wild birds or their feces, and avoid settings where H5N1-infected poultry
may be present, such as commercial or backyard poultry farms and live poultry
markets.
Do
not eat uncooked or undercooked poultry or poultry products, including dishes
made with uncooked poultry blood.
As
with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive
practices is careful and frequent hand washing. Cleaning your hands often,
using either soap and water (or waterless, alcohol-based hand rubs when soap
is not available and hands are not visibly soiled), removes potentially
infectious materials from your skin and helps prevent disease transmission.
When preparing
food:
Separate
raw meat from cooked or ready-to-eat foods. Do not use the same chopping
board or the same knife for preparing raw meat and cooked or ready-to-eat
foods.
Do
not handle either raw or cooked foods without washing your hands in between.
Do
not place cooked meat back on the same plate or surface it was on before it
was cooked.
All
foods from poultry, including eggs and poultry blood, should be cooked
thoroughly. Egg yolks should not be runny or liquid. Because influenza
viruses are destroyed by heat, the cooking temperature for poultry meat
should reach 70°C (158° F).
Wash
egg shells in soapy water before handling and cooking, and wash your hands
afterwards.
Do
not use raw or soft-boiled eggs in foods that will not be cooked.
After
handling raw poultry or eggs, wash your hands and all surfaces and utensils
thoroughly with soap and water.
If you believe you
might have been exposed to avian influenza, take the following precautions:
Monitor
your health for 10 days.
If
you become ill with fever and develop a cough or difficulty breathing, or if
you develop any illness during this 10-day period, consult a health-care
provider. Before you visit a health-care setting, tell the provider the
following: 1) your symptoms 2) if you have had direct poultry contact, and 3)
where you traveled.
Do
not travel while sick, and limit contact with others as much as possible to
help prevent the spread of any infectious illness.
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