WHO Is Looking To Rename Monkeypox: The World Health Organization- WHO is considering changing the name of monkeypox. On Tuesday, he has sought public help in this matter. The WHO has asked people to suggest a less intimidating name for this rapidly spreading disease. The United Nations (UN) health agency has been worrying for weeks to change the name of the disease that emerged globally since May. Significantly, due to the name of this disease being associated with monkeys, recently cases of attacks on them have come to the fore. Experts have warned WHO for this.
Attacks on monkeys in the name of monkeypox
Experts have warned that due to the name monkeypox, the name of the lineage of human-like animals may be tarnished. Actually the name of this disease connects it to monkeys. Experts say that while monkeys have little role in the spread of this disease. Animals were held accountable for the spread of this disease in the African continent. For example, recently in Brazil, there have been cases of people attacking monkeys for fear of disease.
Website created for new name of Monkeypox
WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters in Geneva, “The current best way to name diseases was already given to human monkeypox.” “We really want to find a name that isn’t stigmatized,” she says. “A special website has now been created to suggest a new name, which is open to all,” Chaibe said.
Significantly, monkeypox got this name because its virus was actually identified in monkeys. In 1958, this virus was found in monkeys kept for research in Denmark. However, this disease is also found in many other animals. This disease mostly occurs in rodents. This disease was first spread in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, this disease has been limited especially to some West and Central African countries. Here it is endemic.
Experts agree on Roman numerals
The United Nations health agency announced last week that a group of experts had already agreed on new names for monkeypox virus variants, or clades. So far, two special names have been given in the name of geographical areas. These areas include the Congo Basin and West Africa, although experts have agreed to use Roman numerals for the new name for the monkeypox virus instead. These have been named Clade I and Clade II. A subvariant of Clade II, now known as Clade IIb. This subvariant is responsible for the global outbreak of monkeypox.
Monkeypox outbreak in the world since May
In May, the monkeypox disease started spreading rapidly in the world. There was an increase in the cases of fever, muscle pain and sores formed from large boils on the skin in the patients of this disease. Especially it was spreading more among gay men. A major reason for this was considered to be the sexual relationship between them. More than 31,000 cases of monkeypox were confirmed worldwide at the beginning of the year. According to WHO, 12 people have died due to this disease so far. This was the reason why the WHO declared this outbreak a global health emergency. Although the monkeypox virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, WHO experts insist that the recent global spread of the disease is due to close human-to-human contact.
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