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Pass the dressing and the gravy and ... "ah-ah-achoo!"

Germs -- more precisely, viruses -- are on the menu of traditional Thanksgiving concerns for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as holiday travelers prepare to go over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house.

It's always a concern this time of year as people of all ages and regions mingle in close quarters in cars and planes and around dining tables. As a result, the holiday usually brings an increase in cases of early seasonal flu.

That's in an average year. There's nothing average about this year's flu outbreak. At a time when seasonal flu viruses are just beginning to bring on the usual symptoms, half of all flu cases are being blamed on H1N1 -- the swine flu virus.

The Associated Press reports swine flu has sickened about 22 million Americans, hospitalized 98,000 and killed 4,000 since it was identified in April. At greatest risk are children and young adults.

Airports, seaports and border crossings are taking on aspects of local health departments as the federal government puts up posters with slogans like "Stop, Wash & Go" as part of a new travel-health campaign.

On the plus side: The pandemic apparently is losing some of its punch.

For the past three weeks, fewer states have been reporting widespread cases. School closings have dropped to the point that there were none on Monday -- the first time that's happened since late August -- though there were six on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The downside: H1N1 has not followed typical patterns of typical flu viruses, so no one knows what sharing fellowship and viruses will bring this holiday. It may push the typical viruses aside, or the seasonal flu could be ready to take off as swine flu wanes.

Worse: A third wave of swine flu or a mutation could make the virus more deadly or less susceptible to medicines.

Flu-like symptoms are universal -- fever, cough, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Common sense is the best line of defense. Exercise that by limiting your exposure to sick people when you're healthy and by keeping your distance from healthy people when you're sick.

And keep the sanitizer handy.