US looks to change 'swine flu' name

I / Washington April 29, 2009, 10:11 IST

US officials have said they were reviewing whether to change the name of the "swine flu" outbreak, complaining that a slew of countries were misguidedly banning pork exports from North America.      

"This is not a food-borne crisis. It's important to not refer to swine flu. It's important to convey the message that consuming pork will not cause this illness," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters yesterday.      

"We're concerned about safety, but also about the impact on the economy."      

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoed the message that there is no risk from eating pork, but there is every risk of human-to-human transmission.     

"In the public, we've been seeing a fair amount of misconception," CDC acting director Richard Besser said, stressing that pigs were the origin of only one component of the flu strain now afflicting people worldwide.      

"That's not helpful to pork producers, that's not helpful to people who eat pork. It's not helpful to people who are wondering how they can get this infection," he said.      

"So we're discussing, is there a better to way to describe this that would not lead to inappropriate actions on people's part."      

Russia widened a ban on imports of US meat products to cover pork shipments from 14 states.