What DO you MEAN?

The world has been cloaked in concern. It's big in world headlines. World leaders address the topic. This is no laughing matter. It's SWINE FLU.
I don't keep intrinsically informed about such issues, and I don't pretend to be a current-events expert. Let's face it; my degree is concerned with events that happened deep in the past. But I still consider myself to be a concerned citizen, and I feel obliged to be current on major events around me.
So, imagine my surprise when I learned this week that the notorious and infectious "Swine Flu" has absolutely nothing to do with pigs.
(WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????????????)
So, why on earth is it called swine flu?
The dreaded "Bird Flu" that caused global uproar a few years back? Yeah, it was spread by birds. Whoever named that one, good call.
Mad cow? Yeah -it's all about beef.
It's all logical. The naming of diseases people thought it through.
So where'd the piggy reference come from? I need to visit the office of the disease naming folks.
Was the board on a retreat the day the outbreak was announced, leaving the receptionist there to handle things? Was she a hard-core Muppets fan? Did she have a grudge against everything bacon-flavored (due to some mishap with salad toppings and her favorite blouse)?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I've looked over the symptoms, and it doesn't sound particularly swine-ish. I mean, sure -the infected person is obviously bed-ridden and unable to tidy up or worry much about hygeine, but that's no reason to call names.
Maybe there's a political strategy behind the name. A name like "Black Death" incites more panic than a power-outage on Super-Bowl Sunday. They don't want a panic. So they order a "level sub-zero panic factor" nomenclature. "Swine Flu". Because who can take a pig seriously? It's perfect.