By Sheilah Downey sheilahd at foodconsumer dot org

After appearing with such high-profile celebs as Rosie O'Donnell, Tony Danza, TV-chef Emeril and the almighty Oprah, Elmo is now working for the government.

The fiery-red muppet of Sesame Street fame has been recruited to feature in a series of PSA's to help combat the spread of swine flu. Elmo will teach kids hygiene etiquette, proper hand-washing and sneezing practices for kids, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.

Though the ads initially appeared in May, they have been reformatted to help promote www.flu.gov, the government site for the H1N1 virus. Elmo will be appearing with another Sesame Street regular, Gordon, for the PSAs.

"We are thrilled to partner with Elmo, Gordon, and Sesame Workshop again to emphasize the steps kids and their parents can take to stay happy and healthy this school year," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

"Younger children and their parents are some of the people most at risk from the new H1N1 flu virus and with schools starting back up again and the weather starting to get colder, we need to do everything we can to get these important messages about how to prevent the spread of the flu out there."

The PSAs are a collaboration of the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and the Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street.

The PSAs will be distributed nationwide and will be supported in airtime donated by television stations, according to the HHS statement.