Xinhua News Agency, Geneva, November 28 The World Health Organization announced on the 28th that “mpox” is the new name for monkeypox, in order to avoid the possible stigma caused by the original name “monkeypox”.
The WHO said in a statement that the two names will be used concurrently over the next year and the original name will be phased out. The establishment of a one-year transition period helps to alleviate the confusion caused by the name change during the global monkeypox outbreak, and also provides time for the completion of the update of the content of the International Classification of Diseases and WHO publications.
Since the beginning of this year, after monkeypox outbreaks broke out in some countries and regions, racist and stigmatizing remarks appeared on the Internet and in some communities. Some individuals and countries have raised concerns about the monkeypox name several times and requested WHO to propose a name change. Critics say the monkeypox name is misleading because monkeys are not the main host of the virus.
Representatives from 45 countries and regions participated in the WHO consultation on renaming monkeypox.
According to WHO data, as of the 26th, 110 countries and regions had reported 81,107 confirmed cases and 1,526 suspected cases of monkeypox, including 55 deaths.