‘Swine flu’ name wrong, group says…
PARIS/BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The virus spreading around the world should not be called “swine flu” as it contains avian and human components and no pig has so far been found ill with the disease, the world animal health body said on Monday.
It would be more logical to call the virus “North American influenza”, a name based on its geographic origin like the Spanish influenza, a human flu pandemic with animal origin that killed more than 50 million people in 1918-1919.
“The virus has not been isolated in animals to date. Therefore it is not justified to name this disease swine influenza,” the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health, also known as the OIE, said in a statement.
The European Commission said that the virus was not linked with pork.
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