Infectious disease models have suggested that an upcoming influenza epidemic with a low basic reproduction number might be contained at the source through targeted use of antiviral drugs [9, 12] . The published scenarios concern WHO phases 4 and 5 (inter-pandemic alert period) and assume that an outbreak starts in a rural area with low population density. It can be expected that the pandemic virus will be introduced into Europe and the US after a local epidemic (i.e. in WHO phase 6). Communitybased prophylaxis, however, is of limited use for several reasons. Under a high prevalence of infection in phase 6, a wide distribution requires an enormous number of antiviral courses; with available stockpiles, it will be virtually impossible to locally contain the pandemic with targeted antiviral prophylaxis. Development of resistance, limited production capacities and extremely high costs are further limitations of this strategy, so that population-wide prophylaxis has not been recommended by the WHO for the final phase of the pandemic [1].