GENEVA: The World Health Organization announced on Thursday it would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

The policy shift came a day after Egypt began slaughtering thousands of pigs in a misguided effort to prevent swine flu.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the agriculture industry and the UN food agency had expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to ban pork products and order the slaughter of pigs.