Names matter: H1N1 is not swine flu  - 2009-10-27

The H1N1 influenza may have similarities to a strain of flu that can be found among swine; however, H1N1 and the “swine flu” are not the same.

“In this instance there haven’t been any documented human deaths or illnesses from the transmission of swine viruses that swine can carry to humans,” said Spencer Neale, a commodity marketing specialist for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

“Even if swine were to get a virus or flu, there is no danger of transmission to consumers eating pork. You cannot get the illness by eating products from an animal that had it.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has urged the news media to stop using the term “swine flu” in reference to H1N1.

For most people, H1N1 is generally mild and can be treated effectively with bed rest and fluids, though the virus can be serious for high-risk groups such as children and pregnant women.

At least two-thirds of children with H1N1 have had underlying conditions that put them at an increased risk for complications, said Dr. Nathan Litman, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York.

Litman recently told Health magazine that H1N1 will feel like the seasonal flu for most people.