Harvey Fineberg from the Institute of Medicine, reviewed the1976 swine fl u scare, and shared these fi ve principles facts for preparing the public for a pandemic: (i) Build a base for decision-making; (ii) Think thoroughly each decision point; (iii) Consider and maintain good ties to the media; (iv) Maintain long-term credibility; and (v) Think twice about medical knowledge [15] . These fi ve lessons have been applied to several situations since 1976, i.e. the foot and mouth disease outbreak in UK, and the recent SARS outbreak and the bird fl u threat of only a few years ago. The application of these fi ve procedures has prevented panic, allowed professionals to do their jobs, and provided the media sound and correct information.