"They're doing a superb job," he says. "Almost everybody is going to be exposed to the swine flu.I think the key thing to understand is that the swine flu is not necessarily more dangerous than previous flus, except that it's far more contagious

"But say only a tiny percentage gets sick, it's a tiny percentage of a very large number. That makes for a lot of people," he says.

Toscano wrote a column earlier this year explaining that people can't get bacterial infections from handling poker chips, but was grossed out when Tiffany Michelle was shown eating and playing cards during the 2008 World Series of Poker. The difference is bacteria vs. a virus, he said.

"The studies done on poker chips cultured for bacteria, and there aren't that many transmitted on the chip," he said. "Viruses are different. The swine flu does live even on hard surfaces, such as chips and slot buttons. So those hard surfaces need to be disinfected and that's encouraged."

He also tells people to get a flu vaccine -- and not the seasonal flu vaccine.

Meanwhile, poker players should be advised not to touch their nose and mouth while they're playing until after they've had a chance to wash their hands.

As far as eating at the table: Some poker rooms will put nuts or a little party mix it in a tiny medicine cup, so patrons can pour it into their mouths without touching it. Dr. Toscano says that's much preferable to, say, eating nuts or potatochips out off the bag with your fingers.

"The bad stuff is going from chips to fingers to food to mouth," he said.

The same goes for smokers. They should wash their hands first, although Dr. Toscano doesn't advise anyone to smoke.