Why is H1N1 sometimes called Swine Flu?

Answer 1

H5N1 is the avian flu virus. There are some confined areas of the world that up to half the pig population is testing positive for H5N1, without showing any symptoms. Pigs can carry this as well as human flu viruses. There is some concern that if a pig is carrying both, the viruses can combine and mutate into a new strain that will be easily passed among humans.

Answer 2

They called it Swine Flu at first because laboratory testing showed that the first form of this virus was originally the same or similar to a viral influenza disease of North American pigs that was not zoonotic (did not move from other animal species to people). It was also a Type A H1N1 virus. But further study has shown that this new pandemic virus is very different from what normally circulated in North American pigs. It contains genetic material from more than one type of swine influenza (European, Asian, and North American), and also genetic material from Avian (bird) flu, and human influenza. That makes it a new kind of flu that people have not had exposure to prior to this, so the potential was for a pandemic (which is what has happened).

The proper name is influenza Type A-H1N1/09. See the related question below for more specific scientific names and other names this virus is called around the world today.

They changed the name because people wouldn't eat pork meat because they thought they were going to catch the disease by eating it and the pork producers didn't want this stigma placed on their product and it made it confusing and hard to differentiate from the prior types of "swine flu" when talking or writing about it. You can not get the pandemic A-H1N1/09 swine flu or other influenza types from eating pork. The influenza viruses are killed by normal cooking temperatures of 167-212°F (75-100°C).

Answer 3

They both are Type A Influenza viruses, subtype H1N1. And both originated in pigs. But they are very different strains. The 2009 Pandemic A-H1N1/09 is an entirely new strain that has never been seen before, and it contains genetic material that is very different from any prior or the other current H1N1 strains.

See the related questions below for more information.

Answer 4

Yes and no.

There are many different flu viruses called both H1N1 and swine flu, and this is very confusing because the same names are used for different things. In the type of swine flu that pigs get (the original "swine flu"), they are usually referring to the same virus, just called by different names. So in that sense, the answer to your question is: yes.

But there are H1N1 flu viruses that pigs do not get, and/or that are not the same virus. So then the answer would be: no, or at least it would be, not always.

For the "swine flu" that caused the pandemic of 2009, the names are interchanged often in common use, and that adds to confusion. To be specific and more correct in referring to this type of flu virus, it is best to not call it simply H1N1 or simply swine flu. To be more specific, it is called the A-H1N1/09 influenza virus and the pandemic swine flu. So the answer then is, no.

Please see the related question below that will help to clarify the terminology and names for the 2009 pandemic "swine" flu. That question has many other related questions connected with it for more information to help sort this out.