Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

[JODO 2]

Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

1 hr 5 mins ago

JERUSALEM – The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

Scientists are unsure where the new swine flu virus originally emerged, though it was identifed first in the United States. They say there is nothing about the virus that makes it "Mexican" and worry such a label would be stigmatizing.

Two Israelis who recently visited Mexico have been hospitalized with symptoms of the flu. Health authorities have not yet confirmed whether they actually have the virus.

The current strain of swine flu is thought to have originated in Mexico where more than 100 people have been killed by the disease so far.

Laboratories in the U.S. and Canada have confirmed that of the samples tested so far, the swine flu virus in Mexico and U.S. appear to be the same.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_...5onLQ9I0H5vaA8F

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

** you, jackoff.

[Ban Hammer 13,332]

he's got a point. why is everyone offending muslim and jewish people?

[peejay 327]

This opens up a whole can of worms. Who knows? Maybe Mexicans will be offended that a flu named after pigs is renamed a Mexican flu?

[The_Dude 1,142]

So now they should have called Bird Flu "Chinese Death Fever" or something like that? This guy is moron, plain and simple.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Apter reaction from Litzman would have been to gloat that Israel will largely be spared--due to ultra-ultra-ultra low consumption of pork (95%+ of country's citizens being of religions which will not touch it with a barge-pole).

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Yakov is a Jackoff

Apter reaction from Litzman would have been to gloat that Israel will largely be spared--due to ultra-ultra-ultra low consumption of pork (95%+ of country's citizens being of religions which will not touch it with a barge-pole).

except it isn't spread by consuming pork... it is spread by vacationing in Cancun

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Yakov is a Jackoff

Apter reaction from Litzman would have been to gloat that Israel will largely be spared--due to ultra-ultra-ultra low consumption of pork (95%+ of country's citizens being of religions which will not touch it with a barge-pole).

except it isn't spread by consuming pork... it is spread by vacationing in Cancun

Already solution--not many Israelis will be going there, due to having difficulty finding places where pork isn't served.

[Peikko 1,575]

Amazing how ignorant the population are in this day and age about the true reasons how and why diseases such as flu spread. It is not rocket science. The lung fluids are infected, direct transfer of lung fluid via sneezing, coughing or what have you puts you in the risk category - hence why AIR TRAVEL is so bloody dangerous as you are cooped up breathing in the same infected air for the duration of the flight.

[scandal 951]

Apter reaction from Litzman would have been to gloat that Israel will largely be spared--due to ultra-ultra-ultra low consumption of pork (95%+ of country's citizens being of religions which will not touch it with a barge-pole).

That's untrue. Firstly because the flu is spread by human contact, not pork consumption.

Secondly because pork is widely available in Israel. It always was (Kibbutz Mizra has been raising pigs and packaging pork for decades), but particularly after the mass immigration of Russian olim in the 1990s, the availability of pork and seafood in Israeli restaurants and supermarkets has flourished. There's a supermarket chain call Teev Ta'am (I used to do all my shopping there) which is well stocked with fresh cuts of pork, cured hams, bacon, you name it.

Oh, and regarding Yakov-jackoff. Tee-hee. randomizer made a funny. Maybe you want a late-night spot with humor like that? Not.

[pedroh 21]

I'm gonna boycott kosher products..

grrr

[Peikko 1,575]

They should just give flu a number. It's really silly to try to lay 'blame' on the population where an outbreak of a disease occurs. These things are not (normally) manufactured and released but are a random set of circumstances.

[scandal 951]

They should just give flu a number. It's really silly to try to lay 'blame' on the population where an outbreak of a disease occurs. These things are not (normally) manufactured and released but are a random set of circumstances.

Or name it with alternating male/female names, like we do for Hurricanes and Typhoons.

Flu Epidemic Charles, perhaps?

(Actually, they're not entirely random. To the extent that influenza crosses over from swine/fowl to humans, it comes from populations that live in close proximity to those animals, frequently sharing common sleeping and living quarters. Avian flu was thought to originate in China/SouthEast Asia in this way.)

Edited April 27, 2009 by uscandual

[pedroh 21]

no more kosher menudo, or gefilte fish tacos for los amigos..

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I wonder why the "Israeli Official" doesn't the find the disease as offensive as the term used to describe it.

What an idiot. Every country has a few in its Civil Service.