Stop calling it swine flu: Canada's pork producers

OTTAWA — Call it the H1N1 virus, the Mexican flu, a pandemic or just a panic — but whatever you call it, Canadian pork producers would really, really like you to stop calling it "swine flu."

With public health officials around the world scrambling to contain what could turn out to be the first big killer pandemic since the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, pork producers are bracing for a market collapse along the lines of what happened to Canadian export markets for beef after an Alberta cow tested positive for mad cow disease in 2003.

Despite repeated assurances from public health officials that this new hybrid flu strain only appears to be transmitted between humans, the fear is already taking hold in international markets. Russia, China and more than a dozen other countries have banned pork imports from countries affected by the outbreak.

Egypt ordered the immediate cull of all pigs in the country on Wednesday, despite efforts by the European Union to reassure consumers that the pig-farming industry poses no danger to human health.

A day earlier, the Canadian Pork Council sent a letter to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, urging her to start referring to the bug as "North American influenza," in a late-game attempt to lift the stigma from the pork industry.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the industry hadn't received a response.

"It would be a way of telling people this is not a food-safety issue," said Gary Stordy, spokesman for the Canadian Pork Council.

"It's worth remembering that, during the (mad cow) crisis, there were confirmed cases in the Canadian cattle industry. We have no (swine flu) cases in our herd.

"But at the end of the day, there's still that terrible name. People will associate the disease with eating pork, when they have a far greater chance of getting it from their neighbour."

The risk is especially dire for the export-dependent pork industry. The loss of the U.S. market alone over the mad cow crisis cost the Canadian cattle industry $1.7 billion.

Canada exports $2 billion to $3 billion worth of pork products every year, or roughly two-thirds of the 30 million animals slaughtered in this country annually. While the U.S. is a major customer, it only accounts for about 30 per cent of Canadian exports. That means the bulk of Canadian pork exports are going to countries to which the sickness has not spread, and which may be more prone, for that reason, to a flu-inspired and fear-driven market backlash.

"We're already hearing from Canadian companies which were near to closing deals with overseas customers who are now getting a lot of reluctance to buy," said Stordy.

Ottawa tried to reassure pork producers Wednesday, issuing a news release reminding Canadians that "Canadian pork is safe."

"We want to reassure Canadians that human swine influenza cannot be contracted through eating pork or pork products," said the release from International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

"Some countries have imposed a ban on North American pork and swine (live hog) products, without scientifically justifiable evidence to support their actions. We urge these countries to base their decisions on sound science."

In the meantime, the pork industry is urging producers to take extra "bio-security" precautions to protect swine herds from infected humans, and prevent swine herds from becoming incubators for the disease.

This new strain of flu is a combination of swine, human and avian influenza. Unlike typical swine flu, it appears to transmit between humans — although no one knows for sure where this strain originated, or whether it might jump back into the pig population. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization says there is no evidence the influenza strain entered the human population directly from pigs.

A consensus seems to be building that the new flu strain shouldn't be called swine flu, since it's a hybrid. There is, however, no consensus on a better name.

The Paris-based World Animal Health body is pressing for "North-American influenza", to reflect the bug's geographic origin. U.S. officials announced Wednesday that, henceforth, they'd be using the catchy title of "2009 H1N1 flu."

The European Union, true to its multicultural nature, has taken to calling the strain "novel flu" in English, "Mexican flu" in French and "swine flu" in German.

With files from Reuters, AFP