Understanding how the public reacts to novel threats like suddenly emerging infectious diseases is crucial from a practical point of view of public health management. In 2009, the world unexpectedly experienced an outbreak of a new strain of influenza, H1N1. This outbreak was subsequently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), and unfolded in a much-publicized manner between May and December 2009. During this time, in the context of an ongoing project focused on avian influenza (focusing on the origins, transmission, and protective measures related to the disease) we also collected several data sets of qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (surveys) data on H1N1. The goal of the project is to analyze the data and publish it. The planned research will consist of three sets of analyses. First (Study 1), we will analyze two waves of surveys (total n = 302) on perceptions of H1N1 collected in May and December 2009. Next (Study 2) we will analyze two waves of interviews (total n = 75) on perceptions of H1N1 collected in May and December 2009. Finally (Study 3), we will analyze results from a survey on H1N1 that will be conducted in March 2010 (planned n = 300). These data will allow us to study the evolution of the H1N1 pandemic from its outbreak to its aftermath using multiple methods. The planned analyses on the unprecedented H1N1 outbreak have the potential to create unique scientific knowledge about how the public perceives the salience, origins, transmission and prevention of H1N1, especially from a temporal perspective. The analyses may also augment the validity and generalizability of our avian flu results, thereby strengthening potential implications for managing the risks posed by EIDs in general. Moreover, our analyses may contribute important insights to ongoing research in social psychology of disease threat. The research will also hold important implications for the future management of suddenly emerging public health threats like diseases.