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It may be called swine flu around the world, but a senior Israeli official on Monday changed the term in order not to pronounce the name of the animal whose meat is banned by Judaism.
"We will use the term Mexican flu in order not to have to pronounce the word swine," said Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman of the ultra-religious United Torah Judaism party.
Eating pork is prohibited by Judaism, the religion practised by the majority of Israelis. Islam, adhered to by most of Israel's Arab minority, likewise bans the consumption of pork.
Israel has yet to confirm a case of the swine flu epidemic that is believed to have killed more than 100 people in Mexico and has spread to the United States and Europe.
A 26-year-old Israeli man who returned from Mexico last Friday has been hospitalised and authorities are waiting for test results to determine whether he has contracted the potentially deadly strain that the World Health Organisation has warned could reach pandemic proportions.
Another man who had recently returned from Mexico was quarantined on Monday after checking himself into a hospital in the centre of the country complaining of a sore throat, officials said.
The World Organisation for Animal Health said on Monday that the name swine flu is a misnomer as the deadly virus has origins among birds and humans as well as pigs.
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(Agencies) |
可能全世界都称眼下的这场疾病为“猪流感”，但以色列一位高级官员于本周一改变了这一叫法以避免直呼“猪”名，因为以色列的犹太教禁食猪肉。
以色列卫生部副部长雅科夫•利兹曼说：“为了避讳‘猪’这个字眼，我们将使用‘墨西哥流感’这一说法”。雅科夫是极端虔诚的圣经犹太教联盟党成员。
多数以色列人信奉的犹太教禁食猪肉，而生活在以色列的大多数阿拉伯少数民族信奉的伊斯兰教也同样禁食猪肉。
目前以色列尚未确诊猪流感传染病例，据称猪流感已导致墨西哥一百多人死亡，并已蔓延至美国和欧洲。
上周五从墨西哥回国的一名26岁的以色列人已经住院，官方正在等待检查结果，以确定他是否感染了这种潜在致命性疾病，世界卫生组织提醒称这场疾病可能会大范围流行。
以色列有关官员称，另一名刚从墨西哥回国的男子因咽喉疼痛住进了以色列中部的一家医院，之后他于本周一被隔离。
世界动物卫生组织于本周一称，“猪流感”的说法不够恰当，因为这种致命性病毒的源头不仅存在于猪体内，还存在于禽类和人体内。
（实习生许雅宁 英语点津姗姗编辑）
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