The star of the Government’s swine flu prevention campaign had to be quarantined at his Sutton home after falling victim to the virus.

David McCusker, 30, was filmed spraying mucus around a lift for the adverts commissioned by the Department of Health.

But while the sequence taught the public how to combat the spread of swine flu, Mr McCusker failed to apply the lessons in his own life.

He said: “I was supposed to ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’, but instead I’ve been shivering, shaking and spreading it. It was quite a shock when I found out. I quarantined myself to sweat it out. I’ve been getting lots of stick from mates.”

The actor called the Government’s swine flu hotline having developed cold-like symptoms and a fever.

He was told to visit his GP, who confirmed the illness and prescribed Tamiflu about two weeks ago.

Mr McCusker, now fully recovered and on a holiday, previously appeared in adverts for John Lewis and the Welsh Tourist Board. Three months ago he joked on a blog about the prospect of catching swine flu after leading the prevention campaign.

He wrote: “I’ve been asked to be on a breakfast radio show to have a ‘light-hearted’ chat about being the face of Swine Flu.

“For the record – I don’t have swine flu. I was paid in Tamiflu, so hopefully never get it.”

In the Government advert, Mr McCusker is initially shown sneezing violently and spreading his germs for others to catch.

A second take shows him promoting good practice by catching his sneeze, disposing of the tissue and washing his hands.

The sneeze scene, set up by the effects team who worked on the Bond film Quantum of Solace, took 30 takes to complete.

Discover how to catch it, bin it and kill it by visiting nhs.uk/video and clicking on the ‘about the NHS’ category.

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