Explained: Why WHO has decided to change the name of monkeypox virus

What’s in a name? A lot, if you ask the World Health Organisation (WHO) and international scientists. With monkeypox already infecting over 1,600 people in two dozen countries, the body on Tuesday, saying it would hold an emergency meeting on 23 June to determine whether to classify the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern. Issuing a set of interim guidelines including vaccination measures, the WHO said the disease’s name is to set be changed. What happened? Scientists have raised concerns that the name is ‘discriminatory and stigmatising’. As per Bloomberg, more than 30 scientists last week said there is an “urgent” need to rename it. The WHO website lists two strains, or “clades”, of the virus monkeypox on its website: the West African clade and the Congo Basin (Central African) clade. However, like many previous geographic labels of infectious diseases based on locations of first detection, that can be misleading and inaccurate, according to the group of scientists from Africa and around the world, ABC reported. WHO guidelines recommend avoiding geographic regions and animal names, a spokesperson told Bloomberg. The spokesperson added the process of naming diseases should be “done with the aim to minimize the negative impact” and avoid offending any “cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups.” What have they proposed? Scientists proposed a novel classification of monkeypox that aligns with best practice in naming of infectious diseases, in a way that “minimises unnecessary negative impacts on nations, geographic regions, economies and people and that considers the evolution and spread of the virus”. But why? Because labels matters. The WHO website, explained naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it SARS-CoV-2: “From a risk communications perspective, using the name SARS can have unintended consequences in terms of creating unnecessary fear for some populations, especially in Asia which was worst affected by the SARS outbreak in 2003. For that reason and others, WHO has begun referring to the virus as “the virus responsible for COVID-19” or “the COVID-19 virus” when communicating with the public.” [caption id=“attachment_9780031” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. Shutterstock[/caption] Some were also referring to the COVID-19 as the “Wuhan virus” or the “Chinese flu” – incidentally as hate crimes against Asian-Americans in the US continued to rise during the pandemic. Also, remember when the WHO, which had been naming new virus strains as per the Greek alphabet, in November 2021 skipped over ‘Nu’ or ‘Xi’ and labelled the latest strain Omicron? Internet pundits and politicians speculated that the group skipped Nu to avoid confusion with the word “new”. They also added that Xi was skipped in an effort to avoid antagonising China and its leader Xi Jinping.

Besides, as per NPR, the name monkeypox itself is a bit of a misnomer.

The CDC websites lists the origin of the name “monkeypox” from the first documented cases of the illness in 1958 when two outbreaks occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. But monkeys aren’t major carriers. Instead, the virus likely persists in squirrels, pouched rats, dormice or another rodent, as per NPR. The source of the disease remains unknown. WHO to convene emergency committee The World Health Organization will convene an emergency committee of experts to determine if the expanding monkeypox outbreak that has mysteriously spread outside Africa should be considered a global health emergency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he decided to convene the emergency committee on June 23 because the virus has shown “unusual” recent behaviour by spreading in countries well beyond parts of Africa where it is endemic. [caption id=“attachment_10709031” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms very similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. AP[/caption] “We believe that it needs also some coordinated response because of the geographic spread,” he told reporters. Declaring monkeypox to be an international health emergency would give it the same designation as the COVID-19 pandemic and mean that WHO considers the normally rare disease a continuing threat to countries globally. The UK said Monday it had 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. British scientists said last week they could not tell if the spread of the disease in the UK had peaked. The meeting of outside experts could also help improve understanding and knowledge about the virus, Tedros said, as WHO released new guidelines about vaccinating against monkeypox. Dr Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO’s emergencies director for Africa, said case counts were growing every day and health officials face “many gaps in terms of knowledge of the dynamics of the transmission” — both in Africa and beyond. “With the advice from the emergency committee, we can be in a better position to control the situation. But it doesn’t mean that we are going straight to a public health emergency of international concern,” he said, referring to WHO’s highest level of alert for viral outbreaks. “We don’t want to wait until the situation is out of control to start calling the emergency committee.” The UN health agency does not recommend mass vaccination, but advises the “judicious” use of vaccines. It said controlling the disease relies primarily on measures like surveillance, tracking cases and isolating patients. Last month, a leading adviser to WHO said the outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent rave parties in Spain and Belgium. Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets. WHO has been working with partner countries to create a mechanism by which some vaccines for smallpox — a related disease — might be made available to countries that are affected, as research continues into their effectiveness against the new outbreak. Tedros said more than 1,600 cases and nearly 1,500 suspected cases have been reported this year in 39 countries, including seven where monkeypox has been reported for years. A total of 72 deaths have been reported but none in the newly affected countries, which include Britain, Canada, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United States. The ongoing outbreak of monkeypox in Europe and elsewhere marks the first time the disease has been known to spread among people who have no travel links to Africa. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.