If the avian flu becomes a reality in the United States, families should be prepared.

NewsCenter 5's medical editor Dr. Timothy Johnson reported Tuesday that there is reassuring information to help residents separate preparedness from panic.

"I think at the very least, every family needs to have an emergency plan," Harvard School of Public Health's Dr. Howard Koh said.

Koh was the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health through 9/11 and the anthrax scare. He recommends every family take common sense precautions to prepare for bird flu or any other crisis.

"More than anything, the family needs to identify how they'd work together, how would they contact each other, who's at particular risk, what medications might be needed," Koh said.

Koh's family has talked about their plan, but another bird flu expert said that talk isn't enough. Dr. Robert Webster has a three-month stockpile of food and water in his home.

"I personally believe it will happen," Webster said.

If H5-N1 mutates, so it can spread person-to-person, Webster thinks half the people infected could die.

"I'm sorry if I'm making people a little frightened, but I feel that it's my role," Webster said.

One thing experts agree you absolutely should not do is try to get your own personal supply of Tamiflu.

"Definitely not Tamiflu. We don't have enough Tamiflu, and we don't know if it's going to work," Koh said.

A recent Harvard poll showed that if a human case of avian flu showed up in Massachusetts, three quarters of residents would reduce or avoid traveling, 71 percent would avoid public events, 68 percent would keep kids at home, and more than half would wear a face mask.

Koh said that the good news is that residents in Boston and Massachusetts are taking it very seriously.

"What is great is that no one is saying 'oh, this will never happen here,'" Koh said.