In an attempt to fight taboos related to monkeypox, the World Health Organization (WHO) is planning to rename the virus, designating it as MPOX, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The decision, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, comes in response to growing pressure from senior Biden officials, who privately urged WHO leaders to change the name, Politico added.
In the third meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) with the emergency committee, the WHO noted that “more countries have promptly responded to the outbreak with a range of public health interventions and the cases are now declining.”
WHAT IS MONKEYPOX AND HOW DOES IT SPREAD?
Monkeypox is a virus that originates in wild animals like rodents and primates, and occasionally jumps to people. It belongs to the same virus family as smallpox.
The virus transmits when a person comes in contact with the virus from an animal, human, or materials contaminated with the virus. According to the US Based Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus enters the body through broken skin (even if not visible), respiratory tract, or the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth).
Meanwhile, Animal-to-human transmission may occur by bite or scratch, bush meat preparation, direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, or indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated bedding.
There’s a lot of social stigma around the disease because most cases of monkeypox have been seen in men, especially ones who have sex with men. In fact, the LGBTQ community have been flagged by the WHO. Sometimes health workers are at risk due to prolonged and close exposure to treating the patient could lead to spread through droplets to skin contact as well and Immunocompromised people due to prolonged health complications.