Political correctness and Swine flu.

Earlier media coverage of influenza epidemics did not suffer from concerns about political correctness. The global media thought nothing of casting aspersion on the whole continent of Asia or Spain or Hong Kong. The three earlier pandemics were called: Asian Flu, Spanish flu, and Hong Kong flu.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Influenza+pandemics+of+the+20th+century-a0141048441

Three worldwide pandemic outbreaks of influenza occurred in the 20th century: in 1918, 1957, and 1968. ..... All 3 have been informally identified by their presumed sites of origin as Spanish, Asian, and Hong Kong influenza However the most recent outbreak informally called Swine flu has encountered furious resistance from those who feel slighted or damaged from the designation. Hog farmers have indeed seen their sales plunge because of unfounded fear that people will contract the flu from hogs. In some areas the flu is called Mexican flu because it is thought to originate there. The end result is that officially and even in much of the media the swine flu now has the absolutely thrilling name H1N1 virus. http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/05/swine-flu-names.html

Swine Flu Names Evolving Faster Than Swine Flu Itself The Germans call it Schweinegrippe , the French talk about la Grippe A . The World Health Organization now calls it "influenza A(H1N1)," and so do government officials in many countries, but not the Dutch, who are sticking with "Mexican Flu." The Mexican ministry of health , meanwhile, often calls it simply la epidemia . Sixteen days after the world woke up to the threat of an influenza pandemic, a Babylonian confusion has arisen about what the virus—and the pandemic, if it happens—should be called. And some virologists say WHO’s new name, A(H1N1) may be politically correct but isn’t very clear and is not going to stick. The U.S. team that first officially reported two cases of the new virus on 21 April called it "swine influenza A (H1N1)" simply because its genes matched those of viruses previously found in pigs. WHO adopted that name as well; during a 27 April teleconference with reporters, WHO influenza expert Keiji Fukuda used the words “swine flu” 22 times, and when asked the next day by a German reporter whether that name was appropriate, Fukuda said “the virus that is identified is a swine influenza virus,” and “we do not have any plans to try to introduce any new names for this disease.” But the protests from the pork industry, as well as the senseless slaughter of all pigs in Egypt begun on 29 April, appear to have changed the agency’s mind quickly. Since 30 April, the word "swine" has not appeared in any of WHO’s press briefings or official statements. Calling it the "Mexican flu" would be unpalatable to Mexico, and besides, it’s not certain that the virus originated in Mexico. “We’re very aware of the potential for stigmatization,” says WHO spokesperson Dick Thompson.