"To encourage people to stay home if they are sick, we are asking travel companies, airlines, bus lines and others who operate public transportation to allow Canadians to easily rebook their travel plans if they get ill," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told a press conference.

The advice is contained in newly released "guidelines on infection prevention and management from public transportation," she said.

Aglukkaq also urged transportation firms to offer staff and passengers hand-washing facilities and regularly clean common surfaces in vehicles.

"Passengers on train, planes, ferries and intercity buses need to feel confident that measures have been taken to prevent and control the spread of infection," she said.

"Crews onboard planes, trains, ferries and buses should take precautions to avoid themselves becoming infected with H1N1," such as limiting contact with ill passengers, said David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer.

"If you are sick and can't avoid or delay travel, you might want to consider traveling by car," he added.

The swine flu has so far contributed to at least 88 deaths in Canada, more than 1,600 hospitalizations since April and close to 300 critical care ward admissions, according to Health Canada.

A preteen girl who died in an Ottawa hospital on Saturday is believed to be the first Canadian fatality in the second wave of the pandemic now sweeping the country.

The largest immunization program in Canadian history, against the A(H1N1) virus, kicked off on Monday.

By week's end, some six million A(H1N1) vaccine doses will have been shipped nationwide to help stem the spread of the virus, said health officials.

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