DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The H1N1 influenza is a new strain of the flu virus, not the swine flu that has infected U.S. pigs for 80 years, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says.
In a statement Thursday, Vilsack urged the news media to stop using the term "swine flu." He said the H1N1 virus has not been found in the country's swine herd.
The strain was christened swine flu because the first cases were detected in Mexico in people who appeared to have been infected by pigs. The H1N1 virus has also been found in birds.
"By continuing to mislabel the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus that is affecting human populations around the world, the media is causing undue and undeserved harm to America's agriculture industry, especially to pork producers," Vilsack said.
