December 2022
 

WHO reducing stigma by changing the name “monkeypox” to “mpox”
 

Over the next 12 months, the World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to replace the name “monkeypox” with the synonym “mpox” in its communications. The decision was made quickly in response to “racist and stigmatizing language” that has appeared online about the current outbreak. This move is in line with the current best practices for naming diseases and viruses, which aim “to minimize unnecessary impact of names …and avoid causing offence”. For the same reason, WHO recently renamed two variants of the virus (clades) to use Roman numerals rather than geographic titles. The International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses is continuing to discuss whether the official name of the virus will also change.