WHO Planning To Rename Monkeypox Virus As ‘MPOX’

The World Health Organization is reportedly set to rename the monkeypox virus as “MPOX” as a way to de-stigmatize the virus that became a global emergency earlier this year. From Politico:

The decision, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, follows an initial agreement the WHO made over the summer to consider suggestions for monkeypox’s new name.

Public health experts and LGBT activists had similarly called for abandoning the virus’ name, which it received upon its discovery in 1958, since it began spreading widely this past spring.

They argued that calling it the monkeypox is imprecise, plays into racist stereotypes about Africa and is detrimental to the global response.

Read the full report here. JoeMyGod notes that the “disease has faded from the headlines in recent months, largely due to an effective information and vaccination campaign embraced by gay men.” At the height of the health scare in mid-summer, New York City saw as many as 100 new cases a day. But the NYC Health Department website shows the most recent report was on November 14 with one new case. https://twitter.com/EricFleutelot/status/1595471238213775360