The results of the present survey depict a mosaic of opinions outlining the stated knowledge, attitudes, and selfreported behavior patterns concerning avian influenza among a large cross-section of a random sample of an adult population in one region of Italy. Guidelines and recommendations have been developed to prevent and control the spread of avian influenza at source and in responding to the pandemic threat [6, [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] . These attempts to provide public health related measures in the community, in workers involved in outbreak disease control and eradication activities, in people involved in producing, marketing, and living with poultry, and in travellers who are visiting countries experiencing outbreaks. The main recommended measures which need to be used in concert, are: 1) intensify collaboration between the animal and public health sectors; 2) appropriate personal protective equipment for medical workers that transport/treat avian flu patients and for workers involved in the culling, transport or disposal of avian influenzainfected poultry; 3) effective disease surveillance for early detection and reporting of outbreaks; 4) food safety of poultry products; 5) control of movement of birds and products that may contain virus; 6) risk communication; 7) rapid, humane destruction of infected poultry and poultry at high risk of infection, and 8) proper use of vaccination.