Call it H1N1 or whatever you want, the term "swine flu" attributed to the strain of flu that started in Mexico and is now worldwide, still carriers the onerous connotation of "swine flu."

While those in cities and, more particularly, some foreign countries, have balked from buying pork products as a result, most people in Iowa realize that pork is still a safe and reliable product.

Dave Enerson, who raises show pigs near Gruver, said the HlN1 outbreak has had no impact on people he knows because they realize there is no connection between pork products and the flu. "Most of the people I deal with, know," Enerson said.

Enerson sees no real impact on the market, something he says is controlled due to contract pork production.

"It's all contracted," Enerson said. "There is not that much of an open market. Commercialism has pretty much ruined the industry."

Jim Boyer of rural Ringsted is one county pork producer who has definitely noted an impact on pork prices with the swine flu scare, something he said amounts to a market loss of "hundreds of millions of dollars."

Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control came out with a disclaimer that the flu was no more serious than the normal flu season - a little too late, though, to prevent a loss in the markets.

"It was a shame there wasn't more restraint" in how the media covered the flu outbreak, Boyer said. "It did a lot of damage to the hog industry."

Boyer attributed a drop in May futures from $72 to $55 to the flu scare.

"This was the last thing the pork industry needed at this time," Boyer said.

Boyer said most pork producers work to ensure a high level of biosecurity.

"As a pork producer I make sure I have the flu vaccine every year," Boyer said. "I vaccinate my hogs. We always make sure we take every precaution."

This week four more confirmed cases of swine flu were reported in Iowa, all of them in Marshall County.

State health officials confirmed the cases Wednesday, bringing to five the total number of confirmed cases of the virus in the state. The first case was a woman in Des Moines County.

Like the vast majority of cases throughout the U.S. and worldwide, the cases have been minor.

That hasn't kept public health officials from advising people, most notably school children, to follow the typical sanitary precautions to prevent the spread of the illness, including thorough hand washing and avoiding public places for those who come down with H1N1.

While H1N1 has far from created any hysteria locally, Demoney Elementary students have had a few more reminders about proper handwashing, something that's a good idea anyway.