WHO said to plan to rename monkeypox MPOX. Here's why that matters.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization announced that it intended to change the name of monkeypox. Now, it is being reported that the WHO will officially rename the virus MPOX. This is a reasonable choice and everyone should adopt the change.
Why was a name change needed?
The reasons behind the WHO’s decision to rename this viruses were well founded.
The virus doesn’t seem to come from monkeys. The WHO wants disease names that are accurate.
Monkeypox sounds like some weird animal disease. The WHO seeks to decrease stigma, so that people are more likely to seek out testing, treatment, and vaccination.
Many Inside Medicine readers will know that I’ve long advocated for the WHO to change the name of this virus. In fact, in what I can only describe an an act of pure procrastination, I submitted an official proposal to the WHO back in August, after the body issued an open call for submissions.
My proposal was Orthopoxvirus Disease-2022, or Opoxid-22. My methodology was simple. The WHO was looking for a name that was consistent with its own stated best practices. So, I tried to come up with something that delivered exactly that to them. Per the WHO, new disease names should be:
Descriptive and accurate.
Devoid of stigma.
The virus we’re now all going to call MPOX (and, no, not “ the virus formerly known as monkeypox”) is caused by a pathogen that scientists call orthopoxvirus. The global outbreak that spurred a renewed focus on renaming the disease occurred in 2022 (although the outbreak itself may have been caused by an older strain, dating back several years). So, I just combined that information with the pattern that the WHO had applied to Covid-19 (which is derived from CoronaVirus Disease 2019), and, voilà, I had come up with Orthopoxvirus Disease 2022, or Opoxid-22.
For a hot second, I thought my proposal had a chance. My idea was covered by Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNN. (The CNN interview contains one of my favorite quotes I’ve ever given during an interview. When asked why I sent in the proposal I said “Honestly, I was just procrastinating.” But I also said a few slightly more articulate things, including that the eventual new name “should sound dry, technical, boring, so people aren’t afraid to say that they have that problem….”)
What’s the verdict? I think MPOX is a fine choice by the WHO, even if it’s not my own suggestion. (RIP Opoxid-22!) It gets the word monkey out of there, but it sounds similar enough to the old name that it will help people remember that it refers to the virus we used to call monkeypox (it’s always good when people know what we’re talking about). Hopefully, MPOX will catch on, so that we can stop deadnaming the old version as soon as possible.
Does the new name even matter? This is a small but important victory for public health. And if you doubt how important it is to give a disease a proper name, think of what people were calling Covid-19 before the WHO swooped in and gave the disease an appropriate name, way back in February of 2020. Covid-19 was an immediate improvement from Wuhan Flu, or whatever other offensive nonsense people were calling the virus up until then (and “the novel coronavirus” wasn’t going to cut it). Similarly, the names HIV (the virus) and AIDS (the disease it causes) were certainly vast improvements over what people were calling that entity when it first appeared in the early 1980s, with cringeworthy names ranging from Gay-Related Immune Deficiency to the Gay Plague. (Yes, we’ve come a long way.)
And sure, the WHO’s timing is off, with MPOX cases continuing to fall, but better late than never. Plus, it’s a good precedent to reaffirm. Overall, it’s a little bit of progress worth celebrating.
Lastly, if you think you may have been exposed to MPOX, please find a testing site and get tested. Remember, MPOX seems to be contagious even without a rash (though it spreads mainly through prolonged intimate contact). For more on how MPOX spreads read this recent Inside Medicine:
