WHO to Rename Monkeypox Virus After Scientists Complain About the 'Stigmatizing' Disease Name

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday announced that they are going to rename the monkeypox virus into another name after a group of scientists claimed that the current name of the viral disease was "stigmatizing."

"We will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible," the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, as quoted by the New York Post.

The organization also pointed out that is working with partners and experts from around the globe in changing the name of the monkeypox virus.

The WHO director-general announced the organization's move during a media briefing during World Blood Donor Day on Thursday, where he also discussed some of the updates concerning several issues, including COVID-19 and Parkinson's disease.

Scientists Suggest New Names or Classifications for Monkeypox Virus

Last week, a group of 30 international scientists wrote a letter, stating the "urgent need" for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing name for the monkeypox virus.

The letter argued that there is still a prevalent perception in the international media and scientific literature that the monkeypox virus is endemic in African countries.

"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," the scientists noted in the letter.

The letter from the scientists also mentioned that the obvious manifestation of stigmatizing monkeypox in Africa is the use of African patients to demonstrate the pox lesions in the mainstream media. Foreign Press Relations Africa previously stated to stop using the said photos to highlight the outbreak in Europe.

The scientists then proposed clades and classifications of the monkeypox virus, which are MPXV clades 1, 2, and 3, and hMPXV clades A, A.1, A.1.1, and B1.

MPXV clades 1, 2, and 3 are viral genomes from Western African, Central African, and localized spillover events in global north countries. Clade 1 corresponds to the Congo Basin clade while 2 and 3 correspond to the prior West African clade.

Meanwhile, the hMPXV are from genomes sampled between 2017-2019 from the U.K., Israel, Nigeria, U.S., and Singapore.

The base hMPXV would be called lineage A and the following clades would be named A.1 and A.1.1. The 2022 outbreak of the virus would be denoted as B.1.

"We encourage the community to adopt a principled and neutral naming scheme such as the one presented here," the scientists underscored, adding that they believe that Africa's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports the new names and that they are in discussion with the WHO.

WHO Updates on Monkeypox Virus Cases

On Tuesday, the WHO announced that at least 1,600 confirmed cases of MPXV and almost 1,500 suspected cases of the disease were reported by 39 countries. Of that number at least 32 countries were newly affected by the disease.

In the U.S., CDC announced that there are at least 71 cases of monkeypox virus, with New York and California having 15 cases each.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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