Although just about everyone has grabbed on the name swine flu, we hear different names for the new influenza virus that is getting people sick, including:
- H1N1 Flu
- novel H1N1 virus
- Swine Influenza type A
- Swine Influenza
- Pandemic Flu
- Mexico Flu
- North American Flu
- H1N1 pandemic virus
The CDC and World Health Organization were originally using an official name of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus, but the CDC has seemed to settle on the name novel H1N1 virus. The WHO is now calling it the H1N1 pandemic virus or pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus.
Does the name of this flu virus matter? Not to whether or not it is going to get your kids sick, but it can influence other things, such as where people travel and whether or not they eat pork. Since that can negatively affect many people, thinking about the name for this flu virus isn't as trivial as it seems.
Still, changing the name now may be too confusing for most people.
It might be easier to simply educate people that it is safe to eat properly handled and properly cooked pork products. It is also safe to be around their pet potbelly pig, although they should watch their pet pigs for signs of swine flu (fever, coughing, not eating, etc.).
Swine Flu Names
Where do these names come from?
Like bird flu (Avian Influenza), swine flu gets its name because it actually causes infections in pigs. In most years, it rarely makes the jump to infecting humans.
The current swine influenza A (H1N1) virus has been found to be a mix of human, pig, and bird flu viruses, and since a lot of infected pigs haven't been found, it may not technically be a swine flu. That is why some experts want every one to stop using the generic swine flu name.
Influenza A is simply a type of flu virus, just like we see influenza A and influenza B with seasonal flu. H1N1 is a subtype.
Historically, flu viruses that caused a pandemic (a global flu outbreak) would be named after the region where they started, such as the Spanish flu (1918), Asian flu (1956), and Hong Kong flu (1968). That is why some people want to call this the Mexico flu or North American flu.
Source:
CDC. Swine Influenza and You. Accessed April 2009. CDC. Novel H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) and You. Accessed August 2009.
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm
