This came after a group of scientists said there was an urgent need for a “non-discriminatory, non-stigmatizing” label for the monkeypox virus, which has been mysteriously spreading outside Africa in recent weeks, Sky News reported on Wednesday.
A scientific paper signed by 29 experts, last week, used the designation “hMPXV” instead of the currently common name (monkeypox), and called for a quick decision to adopt the new name.
Experts said the constant reference to the virus as being from Africa is not only inaccurate, it is discrimination and stigma.
The World Health Organization says that there are two types of this virus, the first discovered in West Africa and the other in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa.
According to the experts who signed the paper, there is increasing talk in the media and among many scientists trying to link the virus that is currently spreading to Africa, western Africa or Nigeria.
In response to this paper, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The organization is working with its partners and experts around the world to change the name of monkeypox.”
He added that the World Health Organization will announce the new name of the virus and its strains and the diseases it causes.
