Wrong name wrongs pork industry
The little piggy went where?
Eschewing going to market, staying home, having roast beef or none, this little piggy will make you sick, might even kill you.
This thought is what the pork industry is up in arms about. Calling the latest influenza outbreak “swine flu” has pork farmers crying foul (a “fowl” nod to Tyson, which sells pork as well as poultry).
This latest flu virus has nothing whatsoever to do with eating pork or any porcine products. The disease is spread through human contact, not food consumption. It ain’t peanut butter making us sick this time, folks. The cause is coughing, sneezing people. They spread the Influenza A (H1N1) virus.
Pork producers, including the US’s über ovine supplier, Smithfield Foods and Brazil’s JBS, which owns Swift, are issuing press releases saying their meats are safe faster than the racing piglets at the county fair. The meat industry blogs are bristling with posts about the damage this will do to pig producers everywhere. And rightly so. Frightened people, fanned by the alarming media coverage that is going on 24/7, can’t be counted on to think in a calm logical ways.
Facebook has some 100 group pages dedicated to “swine flu” where one can read posts like, “MmMmM BACON. & all you have to deal with is a little fever nausea and diarrhea and a chance of death but other than that your cool!”
Enter Homeland Security and the USDA
In response, the US Department of Homeland Security has announced that the name of the virus will be changed to the “Influenza A (H1N1) virus.” If you are a news nerd (like me), you’ve noticed (cue the tapes, guys) that Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security secretary, has taken to referring to this strain and its outbreak as H1N1. The US Department of Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has also recommended the name be changed to eliminate public confusion and to accurately characterize the flu virus as being transmitted human to human.
Never kiss a pig
The problem, the agencies point out is that the name “swine flu” implies that the source of the illness is pigs. However, this new variant of H1N1 influenza, they point out, has not been identified in any North American swine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which still has a link called Swine Flu on its Web site, reports that it has found no evidence to indicate that any of the reported illnesses have come as a result of contact with pigs.
The damage begins
Several countries, among them Russia, Ukraine, China, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, have already halted or restricted the import of US pork products; Russia has, in fact, restricted all US meat products, including beef and poultry. (Fortunately, Japan, the #1 buyer of US pork products, has not.)
In reaction, the Office of the US Trade Representative stated that banning US pork is uncalled for and might create further trade challenges (a little diplomatic raise of the eyebrow never hurts). Vilsack said at a news conference that he is concerned that misunderstandings could have a negative impact on US farmers who supply pork products to people around the world. He emphasized that US pork herds are sound and that consumers everywhere need to know that US pork products are safe.
No happy ending
All these governmental officials are correct in their assessments, of course. But Influenza A (H1N1) virus is a real mouthful. (No pun intended.) Can’t imagine Katie Couric breezing through multiple mentions of this new and improved (albeit more cumbersome) name. And for all of us bloggers out here in etherland, typing Influenza A (H1N1) virus is no picnic either.
Damage control on this issue, I’m afraid, has come too late. But I, for one, am serving stuffed pork chops for supper.










