When it comes to wanting to rename the swine flu, Israel may have an ally in the National Pork Board.
The organization posted the following on its website:
Swine Flu or North American Flu?
The international organization that manages the fight against animal diseases globally said Monday that the flu virus now spreading around the world would more accurately be called “North American influenza” rather than “swine flu.”
The Office International des Epizooties, commonly known by the acronym OIE or World Organization for Animal Health, said the current influenza, because it contains avian and human components and because no pig has been found ill, would more accurately be called the North American influenza, based on its geographic origin.
OIE compared it preference for the geographic naming of this influenza to the Spanish influenza, a human flu pandemic with animal origin that killed more than 50 million people in 1918-1919. The current flu has not reached pandemic proportions.
“The virus has not been isolated in animals to date. Therefore, it is not justified to name this disease swine influenza,” the Paris-based organization said in a statement.
1 comment:
Kinda sounds less scary when you call it that, doesn't it?
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