Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 29, 2009

By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone

DHS head Janet Napolitano wants to rename swine flu

When is a pig not a pig? When it’s associated with swine flu, apparently.

U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

At a news briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took pains to repeatedly refer to the flu as the “H1N1 virus.”

“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 said.

For U.S. pork producers the swine flu name has hurt, forcing government officials into the position of stressing that American pork is safe to eat and that other countries should not ban imports.

Funny take on this from Doug Powers on Michelle Malkin’s blog: Too pig to fail: Officials seek to remove “swine” from flu name to save pork industry:

I’m all for helping keep businesses from being victimized by the uninformed (many voters can empathize because the same thing often happens to us on Election Day), so maybe another name is in order. But what should it be?

The Obama administration has already stopped using the terms “terrorism” (now “man-caused disasters”) and “war on terror” (now “overseas contingency operation”), so there should be no problem changing the name of the “swine flu.”

How about “Virus caused disasters”? “Rosie O’Donnell fever”? The “Arnold Ziffel sniffles”? “Arlen Specter”?

Sad news:
The New York Times: Mexican Toddler in U.S. Dies From Swine Flu – First Death in US

UPDATE
Thomason Reuters Foundation, AlertNet: WHO raises flu threat level, warns pandemic imminent – Now Level 5

UPDATE

Associated Press, Wed Apr 29, 11:07 am ET

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is asserting that the description she initially gave of the border swine-flu monitoring effort no longer applies.

Appearing Wednesday before a Senate panel, Napolitano said that “passive surveillance” is “not an accurate picture of what is going on” at U.S. entry points. She had used that term Tuesday morning to describe the nature of the monitoring for illness.

On Wednesday, Napolitano said that U.S. officials are “actively” questioning visitors at the border, asking questions about “whether they are ill, their travel history and the like.”

She also discounted turning to thermal meters to gauge whether people are carrying a fever, and Napolitano also said she does not believe the facts of the current situation would merit closing the borders.

MSNBC: WHO raises pandemic alert to phase 4
Corruption Chronicles, Judicial Watch: Illegal Aliens Spread Swine Flu In U.S.
Agence France-Presse: Russia to check all planes from the Americas for swine flu
RadioVice Online: Wash Your Hands and Swine Flu name change: Change you can count on!
Hong Kong, Filigent.com: Face Mask That Kills Swine Flu Readied for Fight Against Pandemic
Newstalk 550 KFYI: Swine Flu causes Wolverine premiere cancellation in Mexico City
From The Pen: AlphaNumeric Society outraged at world for naming flu virus N1H1
TheInquisitr.com: Swine Flu cases confirmed in New Zealand, suspected cases in Israel, France & Spain
Thomason Reuters Foundation, AlertNet: Americans anxious over swine flu

Categories: Conservatism, Economy, Government, Health, Illegal Immigration, International Relations, National Security, Social and Political Climate
Tags: American health care, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, health risks, Janet Napolitano, Mexico, pork, swine flu