The World Health Organization has renamed monkeypox as “mpox,” citing concerns that the original name of the decades-old disease could be construed as discriminatory and racist.
Experts around the world have pledged to change the disease’s name to something that doesn’t carry the weight of stigma. But tossing out the old term is easier than deciding on a new one.
In Africa, the disease mainly affects people in contact with infected animals such as rodents and squirrels. The majority of monkeypox-related deaths have been in Africa, where there have been almost no vaccines available.there, saying it could be a continuing threat mainly for gay and bisexual men for years to come.
Mpox was first named monkeypox in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were observed to have a “pox-like” disease, although they are not thought to be the disease’s animal reservoir. Although the WHO has named numerous new diseases shortly after they emerged, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS and, this appears to be the first time the agency has attempted to rechristen a disease decades after it was first named.
Numerous other diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, German measles, Marburg virus and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome have been named after geographic regions, which could now be considered prejudicial. The WHO has not suggested changing any of those names.
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