Call it Mexican Flu, not Swine Flu

No Flu Here

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, (Tom is from Iowa, where there are more than 20,000 hog farms) said:

This is not a food-borne illness, virus. It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because really that's not what this is about...

Vilsack refers to the new flu as the "H1N1 virus", a moniker that won't catch on as fast as the disease.

Other folks seem to agree. From a Reuters article, U.S. officials want 'swine' out of flu name:

Israel has already rejected the name swine flu, and opted to call it "Mexico flu." Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork.

The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.

I like to eat pork. I figure I've personally polished off a small herd of the delicious animals. Anything that might interfere with my continued consumption of succulent swine flesh is no good.

In 1918, we called the virus that caused a disastrous world wide epidemic the Spanish Flu. There is no good reason not to name this new virus and the disease it cause the Mexican Flu. Pass it on. (not the flu, the name.)