The World Health Organization announced Monday that “mpox” is now the preferred name for monkeypox.
“Both names will be used concurrently for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out,” the organization said.
Monkeypox was named in 1970, more than a decade after the virus that causes the disease was discovered in captive monkeys, the organization said. The name was created before the WHO published best practices for naming diseases in 2015.
Scientists and experts have pushed since the start of the recent outbreak to change the name to avoid discrimination and stigma that could turn people away from testing and vaccination.
In August, the WHO encouraged people to come up with new names for monkeypox by submitting suggestions to its website. The WHO said on Monday that the consultation process included experts from medical, scientific, classification and statistical advisory committees “which were made up of representatives of government authorities from 45 different countries”.
“The question of using the new name in different languages was discussed extensively. The preferred term mpox can be used in other languages,” the WHO said in its statement.
The WHO said Monday that “monkeypox” will remain searchable in the International Classification of Diseases to allow access to historical information, and the one-year period in which both will be used will allow publications and communications are updated.
To date, more than 81,000 cases of smallpox have been reported to WHO in 110 cases in the recent outbreak. The WHO says the overall risk remains moderate and, outside West and Central African countries, the outbreak continues to mainly affect men who have sex with men.