It has been all over the news and web that some are upset that current flu that is sweeping the world is being called "Swine Flu".Some, including the media, suggest it should be named the "North American Human Influenza A." Others say it should be named the "H1N1" flu. Other nom-de plumes include "swine-origin flu" and "swine-origin influenza A".
Flus in the past were named after the country in which they originated, such as:
Spanish Flu (1918): Killed more than 40 million worldwide.
Russian Flu (1889) and (1977): Two outbreaks 80 years apart.
Asian Flu (1957): Killed 70,000 in the United States alone.
Hong Kong Flu (1968): Killed 34,000 Americans.
I am going to stay with this tradition and rename the current flu scare as
"MEXICAN FLU."
From this point forward, I will refer to this outbreak as "Mexican Flu". I will post more on how it is going here in Texas later.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594
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