GENEVA - Monkeypox is to be renamed mpox in English, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Monday, in a bid to avoid stigmatisation stemming from the existing name.

It received its name because the virus was originally identified in monkeys kept for research in Denmark in 1958, but the disease is found in various animals, and most frequently in rodents.

“Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term, ‘mpox’, as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.

“WHO will adopt the term mpox in its communications, and encourages others to follow these recommendations, to minimise any ongoing negative impact of the current name and from adoption of the new name.”

The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the spread among humans since then mainly limited to certain West and Central African countries where it is endemic.

But in May, cases of the disease – which causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions – began spreading rapidly around the world, mainly among men who have sex with other men.

Some 81,107 cases and 55 deaths have been reported to the WHO in 2022, from 110 countries. AFP