It is not surprising that individuals with poor self-rated health reported greater risk perception and concern for self and others than individuals with good self-rated health. The health concerns of these individuals may lead them to believe they are more susceptible to infection or complications which may occur with an outbreak of pandemic influenza. Also, since poor self-rated health has been associated with increased levels of anxiety [22, 23] and distress [24] , there may be a heightened focus on, concern about, and belief in the likelihood of major external threats such as a pandemic influenza would represent. Such anxiety and distress may 4 Influenza Research and Treatment also lead these individuals to be more concerned about others as well as themselves in the event of a pandemic influenza. The potential link between self-rated health and heightened risk perception and concern for self and other in the event of a risky external event such as pandemic influenza warrants further examination. We can only speculate as to why individuals living in rural areas believed pandemic influenza was more likely to occur than those living in urban areas. Perhaps individuals living in rural areas are more broadly aware of disease transmission and its health and economic consequences, including the possibility of influenza transmission from animals to human. However, though individuals living in rural areas believed that pandemic influenza was more likely to occur than individuals living in urban areas, they did not display more concern for self and family should a pandemic influenza occur. This is not unexpected given that the influenza virus is more easily transmitted from person to person in crowded environments, and that rural environments are typically not densely populated. It might be expected however that individuals living in urban environments may be more concerned for self and family in the case of a pandemic influenza, as urban environments are typically crowded. This, however, was not the case in this study. Similarly, it is of particular note that in this study concern for self and family did not increase when there were children or elderly in the household, despite individuals in these age groups being particularly vulnerable to influenza morbidity and mortality. As suggested above, these null results might reflect that pandemic influenza is too distal a threat for concern for the whole Australian population. Perhaps higher levels of perceived likelihood and concern for self and family in the context of a specific imminent threat (e.g., swine flu) are required for significant group differentiation to emerge.