1. Containment is an attempt by public health authorities to snuff out a possible pandemic at its source.

Notes: In order to snuff out a pandemic, the public health authorities would have to rush influenza medicines to the epicenter of the outbreak right away. Doctors would treat people who are sick but also give medicines protectively to those who are not sick to ensure that the virus does not spread from people who may be infected but have no symptoms. The affected area would have to be quarantined. Most experts think containment is logistically impossible, but containment efforts could slow down the pandemic's spread.