WHO recommends new name for monkeypox disease

Category : International Published on: December 02 2022

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The World Health Organization said that it would begin referring to monkeypox as ‘mpox’ in an effort to reduce stigma around the name of the virus.
The decision comes after the name monkeypox — so named after first being identified in monkeys — was criticized for adding to racial and sexual stigmatization.
Mpox is a rare viral disease that primarily occurs in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, but outbreaks emerged in other parts of the world this year.
There have more than 80,000 cases, and 55 deaths, with 110 countries affected.
The monkeypox name was given in 1970, some 12 years after the virus that causes the disease was discovered in captive monkeys.