WHO To Change Monkeypox Virus Name. Here’s Why

New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it will rename the monkeypox virus, which has spread to more than 20 countries. In a press briefing, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebrais said the health organization was working with partners and experts around the world to change the “name of the monkeypox virus, its clade and the disease it causes.”Also read – The WHO says the monkeypox outbreak is “unusual, worrying” and will soon determine if it represents a global health crisis.

The WHO is also working with partners and experts around the world to change the name of the monkeypox virus, its clade and the disease it causes. We’ll be announcing the new names as soon as possible, “Ghebries said Wednesday, according to Fox News.

This comes after more than 30 international scientists claimed last week that the monkeypox name was “scandalous and discriminatory” and that there was an “urgent need” to change the name. “The prevailing assumption in the international media and the scientific literature is that MPXV is endemic in some African countries. However, it is well established that almost all MPXV outbreaks occurred in Africa before the 2022 outbreak, the result of an animal-to-human outbreak and only a handful of reports of continuous human-to-human continuous transmission, “the scientists wrote. On a daily basis.

In the context of the current global outbreak, the constant reference and naming of the virus as being African is not only inaccurate but also discriminatory and stigmatizing. “

What the WHO said about the increase in monkeypox cases

Since the beginning of May 2022, cases of monkeypox have been reported from countries where the disease is not endemic, and it continues to be reported in many endemic countries. Most confirmed cases with a history of travel have been reported to travel to countries in Europe and North America where the monkeypox virus is endemic, rather than to West or Central Africa. This is the first time that so many cases and clusters of monkeypox have been reported simultaneously in non-native and indigenous countries in widely heterogeneous geographical areas.

The majority of reported cases so far have been identified by sexual health or other health services in primary or secondary health-care facilities and involve primarily, but only, men who have sex with men.