WHO wants to change the name of monkeypox

The World Health Organization (WHO) is now asking for the public’s help to create a new one to be called the ‘monkeypox virus’ to reduce the embarrassment it will bring to its destination.

According to experts, primates or monkeys are greatly harmed because of the name they give by such a virus, even though their role in its spread is very small. Identifying with Africa also includes the constant sticking of the monkey species to that continent.

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This confirms the reported attacks of humans on monkeys for fear of spreading the virus.

“Human monkeypox was given its name before current best practices in naming diseases,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib explained how the virus was named.

The virus was first identified in monkeys in research in Denmark as early as 1958, but now it is also found in other animals, especially mice.

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“We really want to find a name that is not stigmatizing,” he added.

WHO wants to change the name of monkeypox

It is said that anyone can give suggestions on the name of the virus that can be changed through the dedicated website: https://icd.who.int/dev11.

But experts are reportedly having their first meetings to name the virus. They agreed to name it using Roman numerals, such as calling Clade I and Clade II, based on its variant.

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A rare condition known as monkeypox is brought on by infection with the monkeypox virus. The variola virus, which causes smallpox, and the monkeypox virus are both members of the same virus family. Smallpox symptoms are similar to monkeypox but milder, and monkeypox rarely results in death. Monkeypox and chicken pox are unrelated.

Two outbreaks of a disease resembling the pox in colonies of monkeys kept for research led to the discovery of monkeypox in 1958. Despite being called “monkeypox,” the disease’s origin is still a mystery. However, the virus may be carried by African rodents and non-human primates (such as monkeys) and infect humans.

In 1970, the first instance of monkeypox in a human was noted. Monkeypox cases had been documented before the 2022 outbreak in a number of central and western African nations. Before recently, practically all occurrences of monkeypox in individuals outside of Africa were connected to either imported animals or foreign travel to nations where the illness frequently occurs. These incidents happened on many continents.

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