The World Health Organization, in response to complaints that the word chickenpox conjures up Racism and stigmatization of patients, is recommending that the disease be renamed mpox. Both names will be used for a year until chickenpox is eliminated.
The recommendation, made on Monday, follows outbreaks that began about six months ago in Europe and the United States, sparking widespread concern that the pathogen could spread widely globally.
The virus has been quietly circulating in rural areas of Central and West Africa for decades, but in recent months most of those infected have been men who have sex with men. on other continents, adding to the stigma of a community long burdened by its affiliation. with AIDS.
The new name is the result of a months-long review process that includes experts from around the world and public input.
“WHO will adopt the term mpox in its communications and encourage others to follow these recommendations, to minimize any ongoing negative effects of the current name and from the adoption of the new name. ,” said the health organization in a statement.
Things to know about monkeypox virus
What is chickenpox? chickenpox is a virus similar to smallpoxbut the symptoms are less severe. It was discovered in 1958, after outbreaks occurred in monkeys kept for research. The virus is mainly found in parts of Central and West Africa, but it has recently spread to dozens of countries and infected tens of thousands of people, mostly men who have sex. homosexuality.
Monkeypox is always a misnomer, because monkeys have almost nothing to do with the disease and its transmission. (Rats are the animals most likely to harbor the virus.)
The name was inspired by a captive colony of laboratory monkeys in Denmark, where the virus was first identified by researchers more than half a century ago. Since 2015, WHO has promoted new criteria for naming infectious diseases. According to the recommendationsNames should aim to reduce unnecessary negative impact on travel, tourism or animal welfare and “avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, or occupational grouping occupation or nationality”.
Critics argue that chickenpox reinforces the ugly Western stereotype of Africa as an outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases and pathogens. Some critics argue that it also influences racist stereotypes, so ingrained in American culture, that compare Blacks to primates.
“So is the importance of naming and the accuracy of science, especially for pathogens and diseases that we are trying to control,” said Tulio de Oliveira, a bioinformatics scientist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, said last summer when researchers lobbied for the WHO to adopt a new name.
open Letters de Oliveira and two dozen other African scientists have warned that failure to find a less problematic nomenclature will hinder efforts to contain the disease.
Critics have also targeted media coverage of the outbreak, noting that some Western media outlets initially chose photographs of vulnerable Africans to illustrate a outbreaks almost entirely affect white men.
Before this year’s outbreak, human-to-human transmission in Africa was relatively rare, with most infections occurring in rural areas among people in direct contact with wildlife. The disease can cause high fever, rash and painful lesions, but is rarely fatal.
“In the context of the current global outbreak, continuing to refer to and name this virus as African is not only inaccurate but also discriminatory and discriminatory,” the letter read.
The word monkey pox will not go away completely. The WHO says it will remain searchable in the International Classification of Diseases, allowing access to historical information about the disease.
Despite its debut in the United States and Europe, mpox has largely faded as a serious threat to public health as cases have plummeted.
Follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 28,248 cases and 14 deaths since the outbreak first began last spring. In November, there are about a dozen case report per day nationwide, down from more than 400 cases last August.
Finally, the pathogen persists in a narrow demographic of gay and bisexual men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.
The reduce new infections has been associated with a change in sexual behavior, the widespread availability of vaccines, and a stroke of luck: The virus needs close contact to spread, making it easier to stop the virus’ cousin its more dangerous and contagious, SARS-CoV-2.
