The World Health Organization (WHO) has given new names to variants of the monkeypox virus (monkeypox) currently in circulation, in an effort to avoid any cultural or social offence, the WHO explained on Friday in a statement.
A group of global experts convened by the WHO decided on the new names.
Experts will now refer to the old clade (group of variants) from the Congo Basin in Central Africa as Clade I and the old clade from West Africa as Clade II. The latter consists of two subclades, Clade IIa and Clade IIb, of which Clade IIb was the main group of variants circulating during the 2022 epidemic.
The WHO said the new clade names should be used immediately.
Newly identified viruses, related diseases and virus variants should be given names that avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, occupational or ethnic group, and that minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare,” the WHO added.
The monkeypox virus was named when it was first discovered in 1958. The major variants were identified by the geographic regions where they were known to circulate.
The WHO officially declared late last month that the current outbreak of monkeypox in several countries has evolved into a public health emergency of international concern (USPPI).
According to WHO’s situation report on the monkeypox outbreak released on Wednesday, there are now 27,814 laboratory-confirmed cases and 11 deaths from the disease in 89 countries and regions around the world, Europe and the Americas. being the hardest hit.
