Seasonal influenza epidemics have been responsible for causing increased economic expenditures and many deaths worldwide. Evidence exists to support the claim that the virus can be spread through the air, but the relative significance of airborne transmission has not been well-defined. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) and hot-wire anemometry (HWA) measurements were conducted at 1 m away from the mouth of human subjects to develop a model for cough flow behaviour at greater distances from the mouth than were studied previously. Biological aerosol sampling was conducted to assess the risk of exposure to airborne viruses. Throughout the investigation 77 experiments were conducted from 58 different subjects. From these subjects, 21 presented with influenza like illness. Of these, 12 subjects had laboratory confirmed respiratory infections. A model was developed for the cough centre-line velocity magnitude time history. The experimental results were also used to validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The peak velocity observed at the cough jet centre, averaged across all trials was 1.2 m/s, and an average jet spread angle of θ=24° was measured, similar to that of a steady free jet. No differences were observed in the velocity or turbulence characteristics between coughs from sick, convalescent or healthy participants.