Well, apparently the nomenclature is confusing enough people that the World Health Organization is going to stop using it entirely.

In the meantime, Egypt has ordered the slaughter of every single pig in the country; I guess the pork-consuming population will be driven either to international travel or covert imports.

Well, hey, at least the Egyptians haven't ordered the killing of the firstborn.

at least the Egyptians haven't ordered the killing of the firstborn

To EL: Unless they're first born pigs.

Question to EL: is firstborn a cognizable class as a social group for asylum purposes (people not pig)? Of course since it was an ethnoreligious group, that might be enough.

Hey, the EGYPTIANS didn't kill the firstborn! That was YHVH. The Egyptians, really, were the victims in that story.

That's true, it was the new born male Hebrews that were killed by Pharoah (different from the current one); the Tetragrammaton does the firstborn. And the plagues, but no swine flu among them.

the Tetragrammaton does the firstborn

I knew some priests were into kids, but... G-d?

In all seriousness, I am kind of curious about how wiping out a species which is used primarily by a historically persecuted relgigious minority plays out in Egyptian politics. There are a couple of hints here (in teh last 3 paragraphs); any further insights from those closer to the action?

@EL: Regarding your comment about the pork-consuming population in Egypt having to go elsewhere.
I live in Egypt and I asked my coptic friends how they feel about the situation and they almost unanimously gave me the same answer: that they are planning on staying away from pork these days anyway just to stay on the safe side.
This is a similar reaction to when the bird flu was first publicized in Egypt and many people decided to temporarily stay away from poultry altogether just to be on the safe side.

In fact, I was just talking to a coptic co-worker today about a cCanadian artoon mocking the Egyptian government's decision to slaughter all pigs in Egypt, and she could not understand why the decision was being mocked. Her exact words "of course they have to slaughter them, that's the obvious solution, those Canadians think we have the same fancy healthcare system they do? We have to tackle the problem at its root or else people will die".

I think the appropriate group to be concerned about in this situation is not the pork-consuming population, but rather the pig-breeders who just lost their livelihood.

Yeah, it must suck to be a pork farmer in a lot of places these days. Heck, even my Mexican co-workers (which is most of them) report having people visibly avoid them in public places.

Eva -- Could be worse though