shades fills you in

On November 28, W.H.O. announced it will use the new name “mpox” to refer to the monkeypox virus

Scientists found monkeypox more than 50 years ago in monkey colonies. That’s where it gets its original name from. It wasn’t until 1970 that the virus was found in humans -- The Hill

But what *is* Monkeypox/Mpox? The W.H.O. says it’s a pox virus in rodents in Central and West Africa. People usually get it from contact with those animals (not monkeys)

Earlier in 2022, monkeypox infected thousands of people in 24+ countries. The W.H.O. decided the virus should be renamed. They asked orthopoxvirus experts for suggestions -- Bloomberg

W.H.O. took suggestions from, well, anyone. Check out their tweet here

Why the change? A group of scientists wrote a letter asking the W.H.O. to rename the virus. They argue the name is misleading (because, again, you don’t catch the disease from monkeys). And they’re worried the name stigmatizes Africa and Africans. Read their complete letter here

It’s not the first time W.H.O. has renamed a virus. W.H.O. renamed the “Congo Basin” and “West African” variants of monkeypox to “Clade I” and “Clade II” -- The Hill

The Conversation Magazine is into the change. The language we use to describe disease matters! It’s especially problematic if monkeypox is depicted as a “black” disease in the media

The Commissioner of NYC’s Dept of Health and Hygiene agrees. He writes in a letter to the W.H.O. that “monkeypox” stigmatizes the disease, because “monkey” has racist undertones

But a Washington Examiner Op is a strong disagree: “This is ridiculous! The monkeypox name and the name of its variants are based on its history -- what’s racist about that? Ever heard of chickenpox”

The Atlantic: Yeah, no use changing the name. It won’t fix the stigma and the disease’s way bad vibes

Stat News has a different problem with changing monkeypox’s name: Since plenty of research has already been done under the old name, you can’t change the name of a pre-existing disease overnight

With the name “monkeypox” on its way out, the W.H.O has a simple request for everyone at home -- please keep monkeys out of this! The NYT reports that some monkeys were harmed in Brazil because people were worried about catching monkeypox