LONDON (AP) – The World Health Organization says it is holding an open forum to change the name of the monkeypox disease, after some critics worried the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.
In a statement Friday, the U.N. health agency said it has also changed the names of two families, or clades, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic areas, to avoid stigmatization. The version of the disease formerly known as the Congo Basin will now be known as Clade 1 or I and the West African clade will be known as Clade two or II.
The WHO said the decision was made after a meeting of scientists this week and in line with current best practice for naming diseases, which aims to “avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, professional group or ethnic, and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare”.
Numerous other diseases, such as Japanese encephalitis, Marburg virus, Spanish flu, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, are named after the geographic areas where they arose or were first identified. WHO has not publicly suggested changing any of these names.
Monkeypox was first named in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were observed to have a “smallpox-like” disease, although they are not believed to be the animal reservoir.
The WHO said it also opens a way for the public to suggest new names for monkeypox, but did not say when any new names would be announced.
To date, there have been more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox identified worldwide since May, most of them beyond Africa. Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of central and western Africa for decades and was not known to trigger large outbreaks beyond the continent until May.
The WHO declared the global spread of monkeypox an international emergency in July, and the US declared its own outbreak a national emergency earlier this month.
Outside Africa, 98% of cases occur in men who have sex with men. With only a limited global supply of vaccines, authorities are scrambling to stop monkeypox before it takes hold as a new disease.