Unlike a flu pandemic, seasonal flu is a flu strain that we know will circulate from November through March. It causes symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. Every year, between 5 and 20 percent of Americans come down with the flu. Most healthy people get better from seasonal flu sickness without lasting effects, but it can be deadly. However, seasonal flu kills more than 36,000 people and puts 200,000 more in the hospital every year in the U.S(See Number 3 in References). Plan now for a flu pandemic.