The new influenza virus gathering worldwide attention quickly became known as "swine flu."

It got that name because the virus is related to a strain that usually infects pigs, giving them their own version of flu-like symptoms, though researchers technically call it an H1N1 virus. It is actually different from the virus that can sicken pigs.

The World Organization for Animal Health says that the virus infecting people has never been found in livestock.

So some wonder if it's fair to keep using the term "swine flu" for a disease spreading from person to person, especially since it seems to have traits from strains originally found in pigs, birds and people.

The World Health Organization decided to stop calling it "swine flu" to avoid confusion.

The naming could have economic and other affects. Pork producers in the U.S. worry that the currently popular name could give people the impression that eating meat from pigs puts you at risk, which doctors say is not the case. It does not seem to have the ability to pass to people through animal flesh.

In fact, the National Pork Producers Council notes in a news release that the virus has not even been found in pigs in the U.S. or anywhere else.

Despite that, Egypt's government ordered the slaughter of 300,000 pigs to try to contain the disease, which had not yet been detected in the country, which led to angry protests by farmers, who in some cases turned back efforts to kill the animals.

Some have even worried that observant Jews and Muslims -- who avoid pork and some other foods -- might be less likely to get tested if they were sick because they did not want to be associated with an unclean food. An Israeli official said that it should be called "Mexican flu" to avoid offense.

But Mexican officials said in the New York Times that they believe the disease was brought to the country by a travel from Europe or Asia.

Still, the World Organization For Animal Health also suggested the name "North American flu" to keep with a tradition of labeling infections where they began to spread.