Monkeypoxto be renamed “mpox”, the World Health Organization (WHO) AnnouncementMonday in an effort to avoid stigmatization based on the existing name.
Monkeypox was named after the ViralIt was first discovered in monkeys that were kept in Denmark for research in 1958. However, the disease can be found in many animals, most notably rodents.
Monkeypox has seen a rise in infections among men who sex with women outside of Africa, where it has been endemic for many years.
“When the monkeypox outbreak grew earlier this year online racist and stigmatizing terminology was observed in other settings and within some communities was reported to WHO,” UN Health Agency stated in a Statement.
“Following consultations with global experts WHO will use a new preferred term,’mpox’, as a synonym of monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously during the phased-out of monkeypox.
The disease was first detected in humans in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has remained relatively restricted to certain West African and Central African countries since.
However, May is the month when cases of the disease, which can cause FeverWorldwide, large-sized skin lesions and muscular aches began to spread rapidly.
The WHO initiated its Highest level of alarmOn July 24, it was designated as an international public health emergency. COVID-19.
More than 80.000 cases
The WHO received reports from 110 countries this year about 81,107 confirmed cases, and 55 deaths.
According to WHO’s case dashboard, 97 percent of the men in the dataset were men with a median age 34 years. 85 percent were men who had sex.
The United States (29.001), Brazil (9.905), Spain (7.405), France (4.107), Colombia (3.803), Britain (3.720), Germany (3.672), Peru (3.444), Mexico (3.292) and Canada (1.449) are the 10 most affected nations worldwide. They account for 86 per cent of the total cases.
Last week, 588 cases total were reported. The last four weeks saw 92 percent of cases reported from the Americas, and 6 percent from Europe.
Seventy-one nations have not reported any new cases within the last 21 days.
The WHO is responsible for naming diseases, just as it did with COVID-19.
In August, the WHO stated that it was seeking new names for the virus and invited suggestions from experts, governments, and the general public.
Names should be limited in their negative effects, according to WHO’s 2015 best practices in disease naming.
These factors include scientific accuracy, pronounceability, usability in various languages, and scientific appropriateness.
“WHO will adopt mpox as a term in its communications. It encourages others following these recommendations to minimize the ongoing negative impact of the existing name.” .
To avoid confusion during a global outbreak, the one-year transition will be made.
