Monkeypox has been renamed by global health experts.
The virus, which will now be called Mpox, was given a new name by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after complaints over racist and stigmatising language linked to the virus's name.
The United Nations announced that following a series of consultations with global experts, mpox will now be the preferred term and will be used simultaneously for one year while "monkeypox" is phased out. The time period serves to mitigate the concerns raised by experts about confusion caused by a name change in the midst of a global outbreak.
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Human monkeypox was given its name in 1970 after the virus that causes the disease was discovered in captive monkeys in 1958. This was before the publication of "WHO best practices in naming diseases", published in 2015. According to these best practices, new disease names should be given with the aim to minimise unnecessary negative impact of names on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare, and avoid causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups.
WHO's website said: "When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO. In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name."
Mpox is a rare infection which is mainly spread by wild animals in parts of west or central Africa. Cases of the infection were confirmed in England in May 2022 with the outbreak having “mainly been in gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men (GBMSM) without documented history of travel to endemic countries”, according to the government’s website. The outbreak was declared a global emergency by the WHO in July after cases spread to more than 70 countries.
Early symptoms of Mpox include high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands, shivering and exhaustion, with a rash usually appearing up to five days after the first symptoms. Monkeypox rarely passes between people but can be passed on via close person-to-person contact or contact with items used by a person who has the virus, such as clothes, bedding or utensils.
Up to Monday, November 21, there were 3,570 confirmed and 150 highly probable monkeypox cases detected in the UK; 3,720 in total. Of these, 229 were in the North West.
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