The World Health Organization says it is holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox after some critics raised concerns that the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.
In a statement on Friday, the UN health agency said it has also renamed two families, or clades, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic areas, to avoid stigmatization. The version of the disease formerly known as the Congo Basin will now be known as Clade one or I and the West African clade will be known as Clade two or II.
The WHO said the decision was made after a meeting of scientists this week and in line with current best practice for naming diseases, which aims to “avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic group”. and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare.”
Many other diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, Marburg virus, Spanish flu, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, are named after the geographic areas where they first appeared or were identified. WHO has not publicly suggested changing any of these names.
Monkeypox was first named in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were observed to have a disease similar to smallpox, although they are not thought to be the animal reservoir.
The WHO said it was also opening an avenue for the public to suggest new names for monkeypox, but did not say when any new names would be announced.
To date, there have been more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox identified globally since May, with the majority outside of Africa. Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of central and western Africa for decades and was not known to cause major outbreaks across the continent until May.
The WHO declared the global spread of monkeypox an international emergency in July, and the US declared its epidemic a national emergency earlier this month.
Outside of Africa, 98% of cases are in men who have sex with men. With only a limited global supply of vaccines, authorities are scrambling to stop monkeypox before it takes root as a new disease.
