The World Health Organization says it's holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.
This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles found within an infected cell , cultured in the laboratory.monkeypoxIn a statement Friday, the U.N. health agency said it has also renamed two families, or clades, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic areas, to avoid stigmatization.
WHO said the decision was made following a meeting of scientists this week and in line with current best practices for naming diseases, which aims to “avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups, and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare.”
Numerous other diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, Marburg virus, Spanish influenza and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome have been named after the geographic areas where they first arose or were identified. WHO has not publicly suggested changing any of those names. Monkeypox was first named in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were observed to have a “pox-like” disease, although they are not thought to be the animal reservoir.for the public to suggest new names for monkeypox, but did not say when any new name would be announced.Sign up for our newsletter to get breaking news and daily digests sent to your email.To date, there have been more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox identified globally since May, with the majority of those beyond Africa.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
WHO plans to rename monkeypox over stigmatization concernsThe World Health Organization says it's holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.
Read more »
WHO plans to rename monkeypox over stigmatization concernsThe World Health Organization says it's holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.
Read more »
Global experts give monkeypox variants new names | CBC NewsHealth experts through the World Health Organization (WHO) have come up with new names for the monkeypox disease, virus and variants using Roman numerals, according to a release sent Friday.
Read more »
US electric-vehicle tax credit could break WTO rules, EU warnsThe European Union expressed concern Thursday that a new U.S. tax credit plan aimed at encouraging Americans to buy electric vehicles would discriminate against European producers and break World Trade Organization rules.
Read more »
Canadians put the boots to Slovakia with world juniors beatdownThat didn’t take long.
Read more »
Canada men's soccer team forms players association as World Cup money talks continueTORONTO — The Canadian men’s soccer team has formed a players association as compensation negotiations continue with Canada Soccer.
Read more »