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The World Health Organization will rename the monkeypox virus to avoid racist stigma after some scientists aired concerns of discrimination because the virus’s origins are linked to African countries.
The monkeypox virus has infected over 1,600 people in 39 countries so far this year, with the current outbreak first being reported in Africa. However, the name does not adhere to current WHO guidelines that discourage using geographic regions or animals to name viruses.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TO CONSIDER WHETHER MONKEYPOX IS NEXT PANDEMIC
The agency will work “with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a Tuesday briefing. New names will be announced as soon as possible, he added.
Scientists from around the world have been pushing the WHO to rename the virus amid the recent outbreak, noting the reference to the “virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing.”
“The most obvious manifestation of this is the use of photos of African patients to depict the pox lesions in mainstream media in the global north,” a group of over 30 scientists wrote in a letter to the WHO. “As any other disease, it can occur in any region in the world and afflict anyone, regardless of race or ethnicity. As such, we believe that no race or skin complexion should be the face of this disease.”
The U.S. government has begun taking action to prepare for outbreaks of monkeypox, ordering hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses and developing distribution methods. At least 49 cases of monkeypox have been reported in the country so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
WHO officials are seeking to determine whether the outbreak should be of international concern, and the agency will begin discussion on whether monkeypox is the next “public health emergency,” Ghebreyesus said.
As of now, public health officials have maintained that mass vaccination is not required and that receiving either the monkeypox or smallpox vaccines should be determined on a case-by-case basis.
