Swine Flu, ala H1N1

When a health crisis breaks, you can always count on the American public to be in the know. And a lot of other people around the world too.

Remember HIV/AIDS when it broke in the 1980s? All the misinformation?

Now I give you the swine flu. Oops, not swine flu. H1N1. As one story explains, the Obama folks want to make sure we call it by its scientific name. Not everyone is on board, and the power of a name apparently brings out the crazies around the world. Thus:

As has been noted by others, China, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates have all banned meat and pork products from some parts of the US, according to the office of US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

The World Health Organization reiterated that one cannot contract the virus by eating pork, and pointed out that no pig had been found yet with this particular virus.

So let's call it H1N1 -- scientifically correct and trippingly tongue-twisting and no where near as much fun to pun with. As the U.S. ag secretary said:

"This really isn't swine flu. It's H1N1 virus," Vilsack said. "We want to say to consumers here and abroad that there is no risk to you, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that there is any link between consuming pork, prepared pork products, and the H1N1 virus."

Can't wait for the first surveys that ask people what they know about the illness. I did see some interesting interviews in Mexico of regular people who said it came from Canada or the U.S. Never mind we've probably identified the earliest known victim of the disease, a 5-year old kid named Edgar who lives in a Mexican village.

The kooks will be out soon on this one. Tune into your favorite talk radio host for more misinformation.