Topline
Monkeypox will now be referred to as “mpox” by the World Health Organization over concerns of racist and stigmatizing language, the agency announced Monday, as new cases in the U.S. continue to plummet.
Monkeypox to be renamed “mpox” by the World Health Organization.
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Key Facts
The term “monkeypox” was deemed by both WHO and global experts to be the cause of racist and stigmatizing language online, leading to the agency and others calling for the disease to be renamed.
WHO will begin using “mpox” and “monkeypox” interchangeably for one year as “monkeypox” is phased out.
Experts previously called for the disease to be renamed, over concerns “monkeypox” suggests the disease is African, which the WHO said is “not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing.”
A process to name the disease when it was discovered in src958 was “before current best practices in naming diseases and viruses were adopted,” WHO said in an earlier statement, as early reports of the disease were connected to exposure to infected rodents and squirrels.
Despite the U.N. agency’s global call, other organizations, including Chicago’s Department of Public Health have already started referring to the disease by other names like “MPV” or “ MPXV.”
The U.S. reported a record 637 new cases of monkeypox on August src, though the number of new cases per week has continued to drop as of November src3.
Crucial Quote
“We have a growing concern for the potentially devastating and stigmatizing effects that the messaging around the ‘monkeypox’ virus can already have on these already vulnerable communities,” Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, wrote in a letter to WHO calling for the virus to be renamed, adding “the language we use in public health matters.”
Big Number
80,850. That’s how many cases of monkeypox have been reported worldwide since May src0 as of November 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than a third of these cases have been recorded in the U.S. with 29,src99 cases so far, followed by Brazil (9,876), Spain (7,405), France (4,src04) and Colombia (3,803).
Key Background
Discovered in src958, monkeypox was first observed in two outbreaks of a pox-like disease in colonies of monkeys held for research in Copenhagen. Experts have continued to push against the disease’s origin—suggesting the monkeys were not the cause or carriers—by tracing it back to various rodents. Outbreaks have been previously reported in parts of Central and West Africa, though misinformation about the disease spread after outbreaks were reported in countries it was not previously recorded. The WHO cites “inadequately cooked meat and other animal products of infected animals” as possible risk factors. Though it is unknown whether the virus is transmitted sexually, previous outbreaks were usually limited and evidence has suggested the virus does not transmit easily between people. Human-to-human transmission can result from close physical contact with an infected person or contaminated items like clothes or bedding, or by the respiratory droplets produced when someone coughs, talks or sneezes.
Further Reading
Monkeypox Misinformation Is Spreading, Experts Warn — Here’s What You Need To Know About The Disease (Forbes)
Monkeypox Is Now A Global Health Emergency — Here’s What You Need To Know (Forbes)