[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               H1N1 VIRUS

  (Mr. GUTHRIE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. GUTHRIE. As cold and flu season is quickly approaching, media 
reports in my district and around the country are reporting on the 
exposure to the H1N1 virus.
  I recently met with the Kentucky Pork Producers, who raise concerns 
that the media and individuals referring to the H1N1 flu virus as the 
``swine flu'' is having a negative effect on them.
  Because it is referred to as the ``swine flu,'' individuals may think 
that the H1N1 virus can be caught from eating or handling pork. 
However, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture 
Secretary Tom Vilsack have repeated on various occasions that this is 
not a food-borne illness, but a respiratory virus.
  Secretary Vilsack said recently that the virus should not be called 
``swine flu'' because there is no indication that any swine from the 
United States has been infected, nor is there any significant risk of 
transmission by eating pork.
  Pork and pork products are safe, and H1N1 virus cannot be acquired 
from eating pork. There are a lot of hardworking families in my 
district and across the country whose livelihoods are harmed by this 
misconception.

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