Must not offend pigs

Is there no end to this nonsense?

They are supposed to be at the forefront of fighting disease and saving lives all over the world.

But in an astonishing example of political correctness, World Health Organisation officials have called for terms such as swine flu, bird flu and monkey pox to be banned – in order to protect animals from needless slaughter.

Other conditions – including German measles and Spanish flu – will also be outlawed because they might upset people from those countries.

Last night experts said the proposal would turn the Geneva-based WHO into an international laughing stock. The organisation was recently criticised for its failure to react quickly to the ebola outbreak in West Africa.

WHO – a UN body to which Britain contributes £35 million a year – says the aim of the new guidelines is to minimise the ‘negative impact’ of such terms as German measles or Lyme disease on travel, tourism or animal welfare.

It also wants to avoid offending ‘cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups’.

But bacteriologist Professor Hugh Pennington, who chaired inquiries into E.coli outbreaks in Scotland and South Wales, said: ‘This won’t save lives. It comes under the heading of political correctness and I am very sceptical it will have any permanent benefit. As for avoiding upsetting animals, that is a load of rubbish.

SOURCE