America's collective immune system is in serious trouble.

As avian flu fears swell worldwide, the Bush administration claims to be preparing for a pandemic influenza crisis that some experts have said could kill nearly 2 million Americans.

Step one is a 240-page response plan that outlines the responsibilities of different federal agencies -- more than 300, in fact.

Drive-through medical exams, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs, rank at the top of the list of ridiculous solutions.

But scarier than an impending flu outbreak is the fact that President Bush and his administration will be at the reigns of the crisis management -- something at which the current bureaucracy hasn't exactly excelled.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the American people are again being forced to believe that this administration is being proactive and is allocating the necessary time and resources to domestic issues -- not a civil war halfway across the world.

The government's first priority should be educating American citizens on the reality for which they claim to be preparing.

Never before has transparency between elected officials and their constituency been so important. Even public service announcements on television and radio would be more effective than stockpiling latex gloves -- one of the Pentagon's brilliant ideas to combat influenza.

Worldwide, this particular flu strain has already infected 200 people, half of whom have died.

Some have said this flu pandemic will inevitably arrive in America. This should be reason enough for the government to be educating the public now, not later, on what they can do to protect themselves.

And chicken noodle soup probably isn't going to cut it.