Should you say “H1N1″ or “swine flu” — or both — in your reporting?
Joe Neel, the health editor of NPR’s science desk, explained NPR’s policy in a recent email to the FluPortal team. NPR, he says, uses both terms interchangeably. When using “H1N1,” it “prefer[s] ‘new H1N1′ or ‘pandemic H1N1,’ at least on first reference.”
This is the reasoning:
–The virus is a new swine virus, so it is accurate to call it ”swine flu” or “new swine flu.”
–The virus is a new H1N1 virus, so it is also accurate to call it “H1N1″ or “the new H1N1 virus.”
–We view “swine flu” as somewhat more precise scientifically than ”H1N1.” There are at least 11,000 strains of animal flu viruses called H1N1, some of them swine, some human, some bird, etc. The top virologists in the world agree that this is a swine H1N1.
–The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls it “2009 H1N1 (Swine Flu).”
The U.S. pork industry is unhappy about the “swine flu” moniker. For starters, H1N1 is made up of genetic material from swine and avian (bird) and human influenza viruses, and it hasn’t infected U.S. swine. So, it says, why blame the pigs? More importantly, the term “swine flu” has hurt hog prices, though you can’t get the flu by grilling up a nice chop or bacon.
Michelle O’Neill, news editor at WVIK in Illinois (Augustana Public Radio), just emailed us to explain that her station uses only “H1N1″ as a result of listener feedback:
We have received a number of calls from our listeners who are farmers, pork producers, and in the business community who object to the term “swine flu.” [...]
Unless reporters who refer to it as “swine flu” give explanations in every story that the strain is a combination of several types and not swine alone, the term is vague. I hope NPR will consider changing its policy for clarity and accuracy.
So it’s up to you. You can argue it both ways. FluPortal will follow NPR’s lead and use both terms.
[Update 21 October 2009: Swine flu has now appeared in US pigs. The Department of Agriculture says pork remains safe to eat.]
Please reconsider and eliminate the term,”swine flu” from your reporting. The public has been confused enough by the politics and misinformation surrounding this influenza. NPR can help to set the record straight.