RALEIGH, N.C. -- As a TV movie about a fierce bird flu outbreak aired, callers to a state consumer hot line had questions ranging from how they could protect their families to whether they could eat chicken.

The state had extended hours for the hot line as the ABC movie "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America" aired Tuesday night to help allay fears about the bird flu.

The state's health director, Leah Devlin, also took questions online.

"We're trying to take advantage of a teachable moment," Devlin said.

New York, California and Texas also took steps, stressing that the movie was a dramatization and issuing notices on proper hygiene to prevent human transmission and prepare for an outbreak.

"If you can do anything to allay people's fears, that's a good thing," said department spokeswoman Debbie Crane. "That's is what we are here for."

In North Carolina, 23 people called between 8:45 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. A computer glitch had prevented calls from getting through until about 8:45 p.m., Crane said.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu hasn't been detected in the United States, but it has spread from Asia to Africa and Europe and has killed or led to the slaughter of more than 200 million animals.

At least 113 people who lived close to birds have died, and health officials fear the virus could evolve and be passed between humans, sparking a global pandemic.

The movie played up that possibility. Bodies pile up so quickly that dump trucks must haul them away, and barbed wire fences keep neighborhoods quarantined.

The movie was criticized by the poultry industry as irresponsible.

Hours before the movie aired, Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, outlined how it will detect and stamp out the flu virus if it makes it to North America.

The measures include banning nonessential visitors from poultry farms and testing a sample of every flock before they are sent to slaughter.

The company and other producers in the National Chicken Council will run public service announcements, said John Lea, Tyson's chief development officer.

"Our intent today is really to clear up a lot of the misconceptions that exist out there," he said.