(MENAFN) The monkeypox virus has undergone some name changes recently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO stated in a statement on Friday that this is done to avoid offending any cultures or social groups.
The WHO gathered a group of international experts who chose the new names.
Experts will now refer to the former West African clade as Clade II and the former Congo Basin clade (group of variants) in Central Africa as Clade I. The latter has two sub-clades, Clade IIa and Clade IIb, the latter of which had the majority of the variants circulating during the 2022 outbreak.
The new names for the clades should be used right away, according to WHO.
WHO further stated that newly discovered viruses, associated diseases, and virus variants ought to be given names that don't offend any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups and that lessen any detrimental effects on trade, travel, tourism, or animal welfare.
When the monkeypox virus was first discovered in 1958, it was given that name. Major variants were classified according to the geographical areas in which they were believed to be prevalent.
The current multi-country monkeypox outbreak was formally deemed an international public health emergency late last month by WHO.
In 89 countries and regions worldwide, there have been 27,814 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox, with Europe and the Americas being the most severely affected, according to the WHO's situation report on the outbreak, which was released on Wednesday.
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