Flu who?

So it’s come to this: The deputy health minister in Israel says the term “swine flu” is offensive to Jews and Muslims.

Why? Well, because for devout members of both faiths, let’s just say that pork is not the other white meat.

And this guy even says the illness should be called the “Mexican flu” because that country has the worst outbreak so far.

Gosh, it seems that if he was going to whine about being offended, he could come up with a better name that that. I’m going to go waaaay out on a limb here and guess that folks in Mexico would not be overly thrilled with that label.

What we need here, obviously, is a politically correct term for this new affliction. I would suggest:

“The illness/ailment that may have originated in/near pigs, though we’re not sure and do not wish to stereotype members of the Porcine Community, or suggest that they are not as clean as cows or horses, or imply that animals which roll around in or eat icky things should be condemned for their lifestyle choice.”

... OK, maybe that is a little long.