North American Flu : H1N1 Flu Virus Should Not Be Called "Swine Flu"

Medical and government authorities and pork producers say H1N1 Flu should not be called Swine Flu, as the current flu crisis does not actually involve pigs, instead they prefer the term H1N1 or North American Flu, given the H1N1 virus origins.

The North American Flu memo came from the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the global organization that manages the fight against animal diseases globally. The OIE has said that the term North American Flu would be more appropriate than 'Swine Flu', H1N1 is also acceptable.

Pork farmers across the world are also concerned the Swine Flu term may be having a negative impact on their bottom lines.

North American Flu

“It’s just misinformation regarding the whole issue,” said Don Nikodim, the director of the Pork Association in Missouri, USA . “It’s unfortunate, and it’s going to hurt us.”

The health body that everyone listens to however sees it differently. The World Health Organization,is not interested in changing the name from “swine.”

WHO’s assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda: “This epidemic started, basically, with that name, and the virus that is identified is the swine influenza virus, and we are hopeful that the introduction of new names does not cause any undue confusion.”

The name North American Flu would fall in line with naming other past flu epidemics such as the Spanish Flu of the 1910's and the Hong Kong Flu in the 1950's.

Peter Cowen, associate professor of epidemiology and public health at a University in the United States says the current H1N1 virus that has infected people in Mexico, the rest of North American, and some parts of the world, but has not sickened pigs.

Semantics baby, semantics!