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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) |
可能全世界都稱眼下的這場疾病為“豬流感”，但以色列一位高級官員于本周一改變了這一叫法以避免直呼“豬”名，因為以色列的猶太教禁食豬肉。
以色列衛生部副部長雅科夫?利茲曼說：“為了避諱‘豬’這個字眼，我們將使用‘墨西哥流感’這一說法”。雅科夫是極端虔誠的圣經猶太教聯盟黨成員。
多數以色列人信奉的猶太教禁食豬肉，而生活在以色列的大多數阿拉伯少數民族信奉的伊斯蘭教也同樣禁食豬肉。
目前以色列尚未確診豬流感傳染病例，據稱豬流感已導致墨西哥一百多人死亡，并已蔓延至美國和歐洲。
上周五從墨西哥回國的一名26歲的以色列人已經住院，官方正在等待檢查結果，以確定他是否感染了這種潛在致命性疾病，世界衛生組織提醒稱這場疾病可能會大范圍流行。
以色列有關官員稱，另一名剛從墨西哥回國的男子因咽喉疼痛住進了以色列中部的一家醫院，之后他于本周一被隔離。
世界動物衛生組織于本周一稱，“豬流感”的說法不夠恰當，因為這種致命性病毒的源頭不僅存在于豬體內，還存在于禽類和人體內。
（實習生許雅寧 英語點津姍姍編輯）
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