On August 18, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ahmed Ogwell said that he was pleased with the World Health Organization decision to rename the monkeypox strains to remove references to African regions amid concerns about stigmatization. The clades had been called the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade.
“We are very glad that now we can be able to call them Clade 1 and Clade 2 rather than make reference to these variants using African regions. We are really pleased with that change in naming, which will remove stigma from disease-causing variants,” Ahmed Ogwell said, as quoted by the AP.
In June, over 30 scientists wrote a public letter urging the medical community to rename the virus to prevent possible discrimination and stigmatization. Scientists said the WHO recommended avoiding geographic regions and animals in disease names. They also suggested that the monkeypox virus could not be called African.
In July, WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus announced that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.
In July, WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus announced that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.