WHO announces term ‘mpox’ as new name for monkeypox, which will be phased out over the next year

The World Health Organization said Monday it is recommending the term “mpox” as a new name for monkeypox disease and that it would use both names for a year while monkeypox is phased out. “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,” the agency said in a statement. “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.” The WHO has responsibility for assigning names to new and exceptionally, to existing diseases, under the International Classification of Diseases and the WHO Family of International Health Related Classifications through a consultative process which includes WHO Member States, it explained. The new name was come up following consultations with global experts, it said. Human monekypox was first given that name in 1970, after the virus that causes the illness was detected in captive monkeys in 1958. That was before the publication of WHO best practices in naming diseases, which was published in 2015.