The monkeypox virus is to be given a new name over fears it is discriminatory. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acted after a group of scientists from Africa wrote a paper that outlined an ‘urgent need for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatising’ name for the virus.
They argued that referring to monkeypox as simply an ‘African’ virus is cause for concern. They instead referred to the virus with the term ‘hMPXV’.
Around 1,600 cases have been recorded globally in recent weeks and while 72 deaths have been reported in countries where monkeypox was already endemic, none have been reported in the newly affected countries like the UK.
Read more: Monkeypox in the UK - the eight symptoms you need to watch out for
As of June 12, there were 452 confirmed cases in England, 12 in Scotland, four in Wales and two in Northern Ireland. Patients have been treated in the North East.
In the paper, the scientists wrote: "There is an increasing narrative in the media and among many scientists that are trying to link the present global outbreak to Africa or West Africa, or Nigeria.
"Further, the use of geographical labels for strains of MPXV, specifically, references to the 2022 outbreak as belonging to the 'West African' or 'Western African' clade, strain, or genotype."
Currently, the ‘monkeypox’ name doesn’t fit within WHO guidelines to avoid naming viruses after geographic regions or animal names. The group suggested the WHO look at renaming the different strains, and it looks like the organisation is listening.
The row is similar to that over Covid-19 after people originally called it the China virus or the Wuhan virus before it had an official name. Monkeypox originally got its name as it was discovered in laboratory monkeys back in 1958 when two outbreaks were identified in monkey colonies.
The WHO is to hold a meeting on June 23 to determine whether the outbreak should be classified as a public health emergency. The only other diseases this has happened for in the past are Swine flu, polio, Ebola, Zika and Covid.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement: "The outbreak of monkeypox is unusual and concerning. For that reason I have decided to convene the Emergency Committee under the international health regulations next week, to assess whether this outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern."
Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe. Infections are usually mild and the risk to the general population is low, but the UK government has bought stocks of smallpox vaccine to guard against more cases.
Read Next
