The World Health Organization said it is holding an open forum to rename monkeypox after some critics raised concerns that the name might be offensive or have racial connotations, the Associated Press reported.
The United Nations health agency, in a statement, Friday, said it had renamed two families, or groups, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic regions, to avoid stigma. The version of the disease formerly known as the Congo Basin will now be known as Clade one or I and the West African branch will be known as Clade 2 or II.
The World Health Organization said the decision was made following this week’s meeting of scientists and in line with current disease naming best practices, which aim to “avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic group, and minimize any negative impact on trade.” travel, tourism, or animal welfare.
Several other diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, Marburg virus, Spanish flu, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, are named after the geographical regions in which they originated or were first identified. The World Health Organization has not publicly suggested changing any of these names.
Monkeypox was first named in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were noted to have a “smallpox-like” disease, although it is not thought to be an animal reservoir.
The World Health Organization said it was also opening a way for the public to suggest new names for monkeypox, but it did not say when any new names would be announced.
So far, more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox have been identified globally since May, most of them outside Africa. Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of Central and West Africa for decades and was not known to cause an outbreak outside the continent until May.
The World Health Organization declared the global spread of monkeypox an international emergency in July, and the United States declared its own epidemic a national emergency earlier this month.
Outside of Africa, 98% of cases are among men who have sex with men. With a limited global supply of vaccines in place, authorities are racing to stop monkeypox before it becomes a new disease.
AOQ