The bird flu is due here Tuesday, May 9 -- on network television -- and the poten tial impact of a two-hour ABC special on the American psyche concerns some in the healthcare community.

`` Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America,'' a made-for-TV movie, is being promoted as a no-holds-barred, `` worst case sce nario'' depiction of a pandemic, the word for an outbreak of illness that extends across the globe.

In the show, a U.S. businessman infect ed with avian flu in Asia hops a plane from Hong Kong, passing the illness to passengers who continue the chain reac tion.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach, head of emer gency services at Sturdy Memorial Hospi tal in Attleboro, has seen only previews and was reluctant to hazard judgment on the movie.

`` From what I read about it, it could be more hysteria-inducing than anything else,'' Auerbach said. `` Or it could be done tastefully and raise the appropriate level of concern.'' The latter could actually be beneficial as Auerbach and others prepare for a potential outbreak of the dangerous H5N1 strain, for which there is no preventative vaccine.

`` We are as involved as anyone can be in the activities going on at the regional and state level,'' Auerbach said.

That means identifying sites for patient overflow from hospitals and beefing up medical resources and back-up staff.

`` We will have a lot more patients than normally and fewer people to care for them because healthcare workers will also be affected,'' Auerbach said. `` We will have two opposing forces: increases in numbers of patients and decreases in personnel to care for them.''

There is no way to forecast if or when avian flu may start to spread, Auerbach said, adding, `` We are taking this very seriously.''

The ABC story hypothesizes that the flu has mutated to a point where it is very contagious, person to person -- a scenario that has not yet, in reality, happened.

But it's a horror so seemingly plausible that fiction may become welded to fact in the minds of viewers.

`` This could actually happen. It may not be this bad, but it could be this bad,'' Diana Kerew, one of the movies executive producers, told the media. `` The reason to portray it this way is to kind of give a wake-up call to everyone. This is something we shouldn't ignore, and we should be as prepared as we should be.''

But what impact will this `` wake-up call'' have on a population already jittery about H5N1 emerging on other continents? How will the public react to a story line showing health officials slow to inform the public and dead bodies being tossed onto funeral pyres?

There's enough worry James D. Deleppo, a private practice psychologist in Foxboro, said he has no plans to watch `` Fatal Contact'' unless he can be assured that education is the prime purpose.

`` My sense of it is -- not having seen it yet -- it's an attempt to be sensational and stir up the passions and fears of the public that could be destructive and harmful,'' Deleppo said. `` People have enough to worry about today, with what happened five years ago, kids plotting in schools, the war in Iraq. So I'm not in favor of trying to stir up anxieties and fears of people in a film like this.''

On the other hand, Deleppo said, the issue cannot be ignored.

`` It's happening in other parts of the world, and it could come here,'' he said. `` How do you present it in an educational way and be informed, rather than worrying people about buying chicken today?''

Will people get the facts or an overblown fantasy?

`` I will not watch it unless I read a review that showed there is some benefit from it -- then, I may watch it,'' DeLeppo said. `` I want to be informed. But the idea of being instilled with fear until you become paralyzed would not be productive.''

What is avian flu?

Avian flu virus -- there are various kinds -- occurs naturally among birds, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Wild birds worldwide carry viruses, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian flu is very contagious among birds and can kill domesticated birds.

Bird flu viruses do not usually infect humans, but it does happen, and experts are preparing for the possibility that H5N1 could begin to spread person to person.

The concern is a worldwide pandemic. The word comes from the Greek `` pan,'' meaning `` for all;'' and `` demic,'' meaning `` people.''

It differs from an epidemic, which is an outbreak contained, as could evolve from the scattering of mumps cases now occurring in the Midwest.

Observers are concerned not only with potential illness and death from avian flu, but with economics.

The World Health Organization predicts that workplace absenteeism by those who are ill or simply afraid could climb above 40 percent and last for weeks.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is holding summits to prepare communities for what may never happen.

Worldwide, there have been 203 laboratory-confirmed cases among humans since 2003, WHO reports; of those, 113 resulted in death. `` We don't know what's going to happen,'' DPH spokeswoman Donna Rheaume said. `` It has not developed into efficient human-to-human contact. We are watching, like scientists around the world, to see what will happen. We are holding pandemic summits around the state to bring together business, government, planning and local public health officials to get ready, although we're not even sure it will hit.

`` We are planning on a real grassroots level, should it come,'' she said. `` We don't people to panic. We want people to be prepared.''

That next meeting, which is open to the public, will be held on Friday, May 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Taunton Holiday Inn.

Take precautions

Wanda Carey is infection control manager at Caritas-Norwood Hospital, and involved in state brainstorming on a potential pandemic.

Every hospital in the state has been mandated by DPH to formulate a response.

Carey said she'll watch `` Fatal Contact,'' but primarily so she's up to speed with ensuing public discussion.

`` If I know something like that is on, I want to watch because then I know what people are seeing and getting into their heads,'' she said.

Its message could be of mixed value, she said.

`` Things like that tend to be, at the same time, helpful and not helpful,'' Carey said. `` It heightens people's awareness and gets across the seriousness of the situation. Bear in mind that these are dramatizations and may be somewhat sensationalized. Learn from it, but don't get panicked by it.''

She urges consumers to practice excellent hygiene year-round, such as hand washing, coughing into an elbow and staying away from others who appear to be ill, and getting an annual flu shot to guard against contracting two illnesses.

`` People who get infected don't want both,'' Carey said.

BETSY SHEA-TAYLOR can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at btaylor@thesunchronicle.com.