Both names would stand side by side for a year before only Mpox was used. The new name was chosen because it is easy to pronounce and use in other languages.
The virus itself will also be given a new name. An independent expert council (ICTV) is responsible for this, which has not yet made a decision. As early as August, subgroup I and subgroup II names were introduced for the two virus subgroups named after African regions.
Since it was first discovered in monkeys in 1958, the disease was simply called monkey pox. But this year’s epidemics have nothing to do with monkeys. Rather, people become infected through close physical contact with other people. Yet this year in Brazil, people were attacked for blaming monkeys for epidemics.
In general, according to WHO specifications, references to specific countries, regions or animals in disease names should be avoided. The name should also be easy to pronounce.
Even after the outbreak of the new type of corona virus in the city of Wuhan, China, WHO worked on a neutral name to prevent the acceptance of names such as the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus. The disease caused by the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus is called Covid-19, short for coronavirus disease. 19 indicates that the disease first appeared in 2019.
(SDA)