In the event of a bird flu pandemic hitting the U.S. the government has released a pandemic response plan defining specific tasks for each federal government agency in order to help minimize disruptions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has devised an emergency plan to cover programs and services involving 100,000 employees in nearly 30,000 facilities.
Final details will be released in June and could mean staggering work shifts and closing down day-care centers to help keep operations running.
The government has stockpiled enough bird-flu vaccine for 20 million people, plus anti-flu medications and other key medical supplies, to provide some protection while manufacturers try to develop a specific bird flu vaccine.
However the onus will clearly be on local communities to deal with the medical and non-medical impacts of a pandemic with the resources they have available.
Rather than close U.S. borders following an outbreak the aim will be to slow the spread by screening international travelers for signs of infection and quarantining those who are sick.
But by assuming a worst-case scenario of up to 2 million U.S. deaths, and up to 40 percent of the work force off the job for several weeks, the government hopes to have enough contingency plans to limit social and economic chaos.
Peter Thomas, USDA's human pandemic coordinator says there are no guarantees that key functions, including meat inspections and grain shipments, would not be crippled and they are trying to plan for a worst case scenario.