On Thursday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson ran a Twitter poll asking people to vote on suggestions for new names for monkeypox, and the results of that poll are in with "schlong covid" as the winner.
"So monkeypox is about the coolest name ever for a disease. 'Can't come tonight. I got the monkey,' " Carlson said during a segment of Tucker Carlson Tonight. "But they are changing the name, cuz racism or something . . . Well we're not gonna allow it. We're gonna change the name this time. We're gonna do it with the public's help because Democracy is real. So we had a vote. There was no ballot harvesting, you can trust our counting. And the new name for monkeypox is now officially, and we're declaring it, schlong covid."
Out of the options given in the poll, the runners-up to win for the new name for monkeypox are "Adam Schiffilis," and "Hunter Hives."
What should we rename monkeypox?@DrTedros @CDCDirector
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 29, 2022
Followers of Carlson on Twitter, many of whom found the poll to be humorous, made moves to draw the CDC's attention to the poll's winning name.
"Just wanted to make sure you guys were considering it," one follower said in what looks to be an instant message that may or may not be photoshopped. "We're not," the CDC is shown to have responded.
They're not going for it pic.twitter.com/63FCwBf0V7
— Mr. Harry Kane (@HarryKane) July 29, 2022
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Monkeypox was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization on July 23 as there have been over 16,000 reported cases spanning 75 countries. The virus, which is known to cause fever, muscle aches, rashes and could lead to death is, as of now, thought to be primarily a threat amongst the gay community, but is also easily spreadable to other communities.
"In addition to transmission through sexual contact, monkeypox can also be spread in households through close contact between people, such as hugging and kissing, and on contaminated towels or bedding," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.
"Although I am declaring a public health emergency of international concern for the moment, this is an outbreak that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners," Ghebreyesus said last Saturday when the virus was declared a global emergency. "That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups."
