Since the earliest days of the current global monkeypox outbreak, scientists and public health authorities have been calling for the disease to be renamed, arguing that it has racist overtones and carries a stigma that will hinder efforts to stop its spread.
In mid-June, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his agency agreed, and would be working with partners to rename the virus itself, the disease it causes, and the two clades or strains of the virus, each named after the parts of Africa where they are found.
Nearly seven weeks later, none of that has happened yet. It’s very likely some of it may not happen at all.
It turns out renaming viruses and the diseases they cause is not an easy thing to do. It raises concerns about the continuity of the scientific literature. It can be difficult to find an alternative that doesn’t offend. And something that works in one language or culture may not work in another.
Monkeypox doesn’t have an alternate name that is in use. And thus far, the WHO has received no proposals for new names for monkeypox, Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said last week.
