Why monkeypox has to have a different name and why the WHO ignores its own rules

Ever heard of MPXV? It is short for monkeypox. They belong to the Orthopoxvirus genus, in the Chordopoxvirinae subfamily of smallpox viruses, and are currently on the rise. In fact, they shouldn’t even exist. At least in name and if it is the World Health Organization WHO with their own recommendations from May 2015 meant seriously. Among other things, they state that animal species are taboo as godparents for diseases. Given as a negative example: Monkeypox.

The term evokes false associations. Especially since it is not the monkeys that mainly carry the virus, they only occasionally act as false hosts. Rodents pass smallpox on. But Rodentpox doesn’t sound any better either, reminiscent of rats, of epidemics, of danger, and such sublime insinuations should be avoided at all costs, the WHO recommended seven years ago. The following should therefore also not be used: unknown, deadly, fatal or epidemic.

According to the standards of the global health watchdogs, the African swine flu is completely out of the ordinary, although it is repeatedly referred to as such in connection with outbreaks in Brandenburg, for example. In addition to the animal species, the term also contains a geographical definition, which according to the WHO is generally unsuitable.

The recommendation came too late to prevent another bad habit: there were times when syphilis was known in Germany as a French disease, in Poland as a German disease and in Russia as a Polish disease. Pointing accusingly at your neighbors has a long tradition. Sometimes this should even happen within a country, although it is highly doubtful that, for example, the Marburg hemorrhagic fever from Häme compared to the Hessian city is called that.

What will monkeypox be called in the future?

Fortunately, the name Wuhan virus could not be accepted and is now called Corona or, more correctly, Sars-Cov-2, i.e. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2. The Spanish and Russian flu, on the other hand, cannot get rid of their nickname, although they have long been known have subsided. One of the peculiarities of the WHO recommendations is that the name valley fever is allowed, but the synonym San Joaquin Valley Fever is not.

If the international organization had its way, Creutzfeldt-Jakob and Alzheimer would long since have different names because they are personal names. On the other hand, adjectives that include certain groups of people are permitted. For example, senile into senile bed escape or juvenile into juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Designations for subgroups of pathogens are also harmless, in the case of the politically correct Corona, for example, using the Greek letters alpha, delta, omicron. They replace incorrect paraphrases such as Indian, South African or Brazilian variants.

However, there is said to have been resistance to Pi in China because it is a common name there. With BA1 to 5, on the other hand, nobody feels personally attacked. And what will become of the monkey pox? The WHO will soon decide what it wants to call the virus in the future. MPXV is unsuitable. MP stands for Monkeypox.

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