Infectious Diseases
Advice for expatriates living in affected areas

• Avoid all contact with poultry (e.g. chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, turkeys, and quail) or any wild birds or other affected animal species, 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. Clean your hands often, using soap and water (or waterless, alcohol-based hand gels when soap is not available and hands are not visibly soiled) to remove potentially infectious materials from your skin and help prevent disease transmission.
• The routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas is generally not recommended.

• 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.
• Store raw foods beneath cooked foods in larders or fridges.

• Monitor your health for 10 days.
• Do not travel while ill, unless travelling locally for medical care.

If you become ill:

• If you become ill with fever and develop a cough or have difficulty breathing, or if you develop any illness during this 10-day period, or if you have had a close inadvertent exposure (e.g. within 1 metre of live or dead domestic fowl or wild bird) consult your local health-care provider by telephone.
• Before you visit a health-care setting, tell the provider the following:

1. your symptoms,

2. where you travelled, and

3. if you have had direct contact with an infected individual or animal.

• Limit contact with others as much as possible as this can help prevent the spread of an infectious illness.
• Ensure your home department in London is informed.