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Why monkeypox may soon get a new name
The World Health Organization announced last week that it is "working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes."
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This undated electron microscopic (EM) handout image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention depicts a monkeypox virion, obtained from a clinical sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. It was a thin section image from a human skin sample. On the left were mature, oval-shaped virus particles, and on the right were the crescents, and spherical particles of immature virions. (AFP/Cynthia Goldsmith)
M
onkeypox may soon have a new name after scientists called for a change to dispel stereotypes of Africa being seen as a crucible of disease.
The World Health Organization announced last week that it is "working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes."
Monkeypox's clades, which are different branches of the virus' family tree, have been particularly controversial because they are named after African regions.
Last year the WHO officially named COVID-19 variants after Greek letters to avoid stigmatising the places where they were first detected.
Just days before the WHO announced it would change monkeypox's name, a group of 29 scientists wrote a letter saying there is an "urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising nomenclature" for the virus.
The letter, signed by several prominent African scientists, called for the names of the "West African" and the "Central African" or "Congo Basin" monkeypox clades to be changed.
Until a few months ago, monkeypox had largely been confined to West and Central Africa.
