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Citing public concerns about stigma and racism associated with monkeypox, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday recommended the term “mpox” to identify the viral disease.
The global agency said both names would simultaneously for one year while the term “monkeypox” is phased out.
“As the monkeypox outbreak expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language was observed online, in other settings and in some communities and reported to WHO,” the organization said.
The name change comes after individuals and countries have raised concerns, and the decision reflects the views of “a range of experts, as well as countries and the general public,” according to the WHO.
In 1970, Human Monkeypox Disease was named after the causative virus discovered in captive monkeys in 1958.
Monkeypox vaccine developers: Bavarian Nordic (OTCPK:BVNKF) (OTCPK:BVNRY), Emergent BioSolutions (EBS), Chimerix (CMRX).
Developers of monkeypox therapies: GeoVax Labs (GOVX), SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ:SIGA), and Tonix Pharmaceuticals (TNXP).
Monkeypox test makers: Co-Diagnostics (CODX), Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) (OTCQX:RHHBF), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Applied DNA Sciences (APDN), Virax Biolabs Group (VRAX)
At the beginning of this month, the WHO decided to maintain a state of emergency for the current monkeypox outbreak, which has led to nearly 90,000 cases and 55 deaths worldwide.