Disease names are chosen behind closed doors by a technical committee, but this time the World Health Organization decided to open this process to the public (applications can be submitted through Electronic portal).
The agency quoted the World Health Organization as saying that it would decide on proposals for the new name for the disease “according to its scientific validity, its acceptability, whether it can be pronounced, and whether it can be used in different languages.”
“We are sure we will not decide on a ridiculous name,” said organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib.
One of the most popular requests is Mpox, made by Samuel Miriello, director of RÉZO Men’s Health, which is already being used in campaigns in Montreal, Canada.
Another proposal, TRUMP-22, appears to refer to former US President Donald Trump, but its author claims it is the acronym for “Toxic Rash of Unrecognized Mysterious Origeaning of 2022”. 2022, free translation).
The monkeypox virus is named after its discovery in 1958, before best practices in naming diseases and viruses were adopted, after it was identified by the geographical areas in which it was known to spread.
Various names based on Roman numerals
An international team of experts convened by the World Health Organization has agreed to name different types of monkeypox with Roman numerals as part of efforts to sort the nomenclature of the disease’s subgroups, it was announced today.
“Current best practice is that viruses, related diseases and newly identified virus variants should be named to avoid offending any cultural, social, national, regional, occupational or ethnic group and to minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animals,” the WHO said. In a statement.
According to the organization, smallpox specialists, evolutionary biologists, and representatives from research institutes around the world have examined the strain and nomenclature of variants or dams (subgroups of the virus) of monkeypox, the virus that causes smallpox. monkeys.
“They discussed the characteristics and evolution of monkeypox virus variants, their apparent differences in genetics and clinical development, potential public health consequences, and future virological and evolutionary investigations,” the WHO said.
The group reached consensus on a new naming of virus variants that is in line with best practice, and agreement on how they should be recorded and classified in genetic sequence repositories sites.
“A consensus has been reached to refer now to the ancient clade of the Congo Basin (Central Africa) as Clade I and the ancient mass of West Africa as Clade II. Moreover, it is agreed that Clade II consists of two subdivisions.”
The naming structure will be represented by a Roman numeral for the clade and an alphanumeric character for the subcategories.
Thus, according to the WHO, the new order consists of Clade I, Clade IIa, and Clade IIb, with the latter referring primarily to the set of variants prevalent in the 2022 global outbreak.
Scientists will suggest naming the strains as the outbreak develops. Specialists will be called back as necessary.
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