WHO: Monkeypox to Be Renamed After Ongoing Concern From Scientists, Experts | Here's Why

The World Health Organization is renaming "monkeypox" in an effort to curb stigmatization concerns from critics worldwide.

An open forum will be held to effectively name the new disease to avoid racial discrimination and derogatory connotations associated with the name of the contagious disease.

The WHO is imploring the public's help to submit suggestions on an online portal to rename the virus that first emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.

The United States has recorded over 11,000 monkeypox cases across its 49 states, with Wyoming the only remaining state with no cases as of this writing.

WHO Renames Monkeypox Virus to End Stigmatization

According to Bloomberg, the World Health Organization has officially asked for the public's help in assigning a new name for the monkeypox virus.

The move to rename the virus came after various scientists and experts have called the organization's attention to renaming such because of the growing concern of potentially stigmatizing effects on the disease's messaging.

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan called the WHO last July to rename the virus.

In a recent press release, they revealed that the current best practice in the field is that newly-identified viruses, related diseases, and virus variants should be given names to avoid causing offense to different sectors.

The move protects social, cultural, national, regional, professional, and even ethnic groups, which could be the subject of potentially damaging stigmatization because of the current name of the virus.

It is the WHO's responsibility to assign names to the virus, but the health organization now implores the help of the public to submit their ideas on an online portal.

NBC News also reported that the WHO has already renamed two families or clades of the virus using roman numerals instead of the geographic areas to avoid stigmatization.

As of this writing, the initially named version of the monkeypox virus, "Congo Basin," is now renamed "Clade I," while the "West Africa Clade" is now known as "Clade II."

Discovered in 1958 among laboratory monkeys in Denmark, the first human case was detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the time, the WHO said that the best practices for naming diseases and viruses were not yet adopted.

Also, the major variants of the virus or disease were named according to the area where they were prominently discovered.

Monkeypox Virus in the United States

As of August 12, the United States has tallied 11,177 confirmed monkeypox cases.

New York holds the highest spot with a staggering 2,295 cases. California trails behind with 1,945 cases, while Florida, which has not yet declared a state of emergency, has 1,085 recorded monkeypox cases.

Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Alaska have two recorded cases each.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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