WHO is currently holding an open consultation for a new name to replace monkeypox and has invited anyone wishing to propose ideas to do so on a dedicated webpage. Arif biswas/Shutterstock.

WHO is currently holding an open consultation for a new name to replace monkeypox and has invited anyone wishing to propose ideas to do so on a dedicated webpage. Arif biswas/Shutterstock.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a public consultation to find a new name for the monkeypox virus. On Friday 12 August, the organisation announced that a group of experts it convened had agreed to refer to moneypox variants using roman numerals.

Trump-22, Mpox, zoonopox, doloropox, poxivirus, micropox, pseudopox are just a few of many proposals put forward by the public to replace the nomenclature “monkeypox” for various reasons. For example, the author of Trump-22 said the acronym  stands for “toxic rash of unrecognised mysterious provenance of 2022”, while Mpox author--Samuel Miriello, the director of a men's health organisation RÉZO Santé--said his suggestion “respects the history and roots of the monkeypox virus,” and is quite easy to understand.

Since the recent outbreak of the virus, several critics around the world have aired their grievances against the stigma that comes with contracting the virus. Others have publicly denounced racist and homophobic sentiments that have been associated to it.

A group of global experts convened by WHO agreed to use roman numerals to refer to monkeypox variants, as part of ongoing efforts to align the names of the monkeypox disease, virus and variants (also referred to as clades) with current best practices.

“Current best practice is that newly-identified viruses, related disease, and virus variants should be given names with the aim to avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups, and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare,” WHO said in a statement.

The group of virology and public health experts agreed to refer to the former Congo Basin (Central African) variant as Clade one (I) and the former west African variant as Clade two (II), which currently consists of two sub-clades (Clade IIa and Clade IIb). Clade IIb refers to the group of variants circulating in the current global outbreak.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) had since clarified that the monkeypox virus was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name. This was before human cases were first reported in central and western African countries.

Over 32,000 cases from around 80 countries have been reported. As of 10 August, there were 41 cases of monkeypox registered in Luxembourg with 1,400 shots delivered.

The organisation is currently holding an open consultation for a new name to replace monkeypox and has invited anyone wishing to propose ideas to do so .

WHO says proposals will be selected based on “their scientific validity, their acceptability, their pronounceability (and) whether they can be used in different languages.” The organisation’s spokesperson Fadéla Chaib was quoted saying the organisation will not settle for any “ridiculous” name.