Don't give a hog a bad name - and hang it

The term "swine flu" should not be used to refer to the A/H1N1 virus because pigs are not to blame for the epidemic, a senior agriculture official said yesterday.

"It is not correct to refer to it as swine flu because it really has nothing to do with pigs," Gao Hongbin, vice-minister of agriculture, told a press conference.

In addition to genetic sequences from swine influenza, the new virus also has human and avian influenza sequences.