Hybrid Flu Virus Spreading Globally Renamed "2009 H1N1 Flu"
Thursday, April 30, 2009(American Meat Institute)
The new hybrid flu virus impacting countries around the globe will now be called “2009 H1N1 Flu.” The decision to change the name of the virus ─ formerly known as swine flu ─ was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acting chief Richard Besser and was reiterated by other government officials during a briefing.
"We're calling it the 2009 H1N1 flu. That's now the name for it," Besser said while explaining the disease was a new hybrid flu and that people could not catch the virus from eating pork.
The name change was meant to address a common misperception that the illness was in pigs or pork, which has not been shown to be true. Despite the fact that the disease has not been found in swine and has only been found to spread from human to human contact, the U.S. has lost 10 of its pork export markets.
AMI estimates that, based on 2008 numbers, the ban on pork products will cost the U.S. pork industry $710 million annually, or roughly $13.6 million per week in exports of pork and pork products, if trade is not restored.
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