In Brief  Infectious Diseases Update 19 June 22

Published on MedED: 19 June 2022

Last week we mentioned the possibility that monkeypox could soon have a new name.  This was is in response to an appeal by global scientists, who said that the continued referral to the virus by this name was discriminatory and did not make allowances for the current variants' origins – thought to be in the global north. 

It should be noted that, way back in May, the Foreign Press Association of Africa had expressed a similar concern, noting  that  "..western media were using photos of black people in stories on monkeypox, despite the current outbreak sustaining itself in predominantly white, western nations."³ The WHO has responded to these calls and is currently consulting with various experts and technical advisory groups regarding the best way forward. We could have a decision on the new name as early as next week.

In other matters monkeypox: the WHO will be holding a meeting next week to review whether the current outbreak should be deemed a public health emergency of international concern. Only swine flu, polio, Zika, Ebola and COVID-19 have ever received this classification.  Given how devastating those diseases are, it is interesting to see monkeypox considered for this classification. 

Confirmation of one case of monkeypox, in a country, is considered an outbreak.  According to the situation update from the WHO, as of June 15, "..a total of 2103 laboratory-confirmed cases and one probable case, including one death, have been reported to WHO. The outbreak of monkeypox continues to primarily affect men who have sex with men who have reported recent sex with new or multiple partners."⁴

The fact that monkeypox is now occurring outside of its endemic areas and the new variant clade seems to be the driving force behind this latest development.
 

3. Monkeypox: WHO to rename disease to prevent stigma (BMJ)
4. Multi-country monkeypox outbreak: situation update (WHO)