WHO To Change Monkeypox Virus Name. Here’s Why

New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it will change the name of the monkeypox virus that has spread to over 20 countries. At press briefing, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the health body was working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the “name of monkeypox virus,  its clades and the disease it causes”.Also Read – WHO Says Monkeypox Outbreak ‘Unusual, Concerning’, To Decide Soon If It Represents Global Health Emergency

“WHO is also working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes. We will make an announcement about the new names as soon as possible,” Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday, according to a report by Fox News.

This comes after over 30 international scientists last week claimed monkeypox name is “stigmatizing and discriminatory” and there’s an “urgent” need to change the name. “The prevailing perception in the international media and scientific literature is that MPXV is endemic in people in some African countries. However, it is well established that nearly all MPXV outbreaks in Africa prior to the 2022 outbreak, have been the result of spillover from animals to humans and only rarely have there been reports of sustained human-to-human transmissions,” the scientists had written on June 10.

In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing.”

What WHO said on monkeypox cases spike

Since early May 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported from countries where the disease is not endemic, and continue to be reported in several endemic countries. Most confirmed cases with travel history reported travel to countries in Europe and North America, rather than West or Central Africa where the monkeypox virus is endemic. This is the first time that many monkeypox cases and clusters have been reported concurrently in non-endemic and endemic countries in widely disparate geographical areas.

Most reported cases so far have been identified through sexual health or other health services in primary or secondary health-care facilities and have involved mainly, but not exclusively, men who have sex with men.