WHO to change Monkeypox virus name amid concerns raised by scientists

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it will rename the monkeypox virus, the move is the result of concerns raised by a group of international scientists about the virus strain name’s discriminatory nature.

According to the global health body, more than 1,600 confirmed cases and over 1,500 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported from across the world.

As per a spokesperson for the WHO, scientists in orthopoxviruses – the family to which monkeypox belongs – are consulting on more appropriate names. According to joint recommendations from the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, other disease names that go against the standards include swine flu.

About Monkeypox

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. There are two clades of monkeypox virus: the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade. The name monkeypox originates from the initial discovery of the virus in monkeys in a Danish laboratory in 1958. The first human case was identified in a child in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.

Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding. The incubation period of monkeypox is usually from 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days.

Source: Agencies WHO change Monkeypox virus name
WHO change Monkeypox virus name