Experts have agreed to name monkeypox as clades, a name using the roman numerals.
This is aimed at avoiding the offensive nature of the name monkeypox towards any cultural, social, national, or ethnic groups so as to reduce its negative impact on trade, travel, tourism, or animal welfare across the continent.
A statement by the World Health Organization (WHO), Friday, August 12, 2022, said it was part of ongoing efforts to align the names of monkeypox disease, virus, and variants or clades with current best practices.
“The monkeypox virus was named upon first discovery in 1958 before current best practices in naming diseases and viruses were adopted.
“Similarly for the name of the disease it causes.
“Major variants were identified by the geographic regions where they were known to circulate,’’
Adding that “Assigning new names to exist diseases is the responsibility of WHO under the International Classification of Diseases and the WHO Family of International Health Related Classifications (WHO-FIC).
“ WHO is holding an open consultation for a new disease name for monkeypox.
Anyone wishing to propose new names can do so here.”
noting that for viruses, “the naming of virus species is the responsibility of the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), which has a process underway for the name of the monkeypox virus.
“For variants and clades, the naming of variants for existing pathogens is normally the result of debate amongst scientists.
“In order to expedite agreement in the context of the current outbreak, WHO convened an ad hoc meeting on August 8 to enable virologists and public health experts to reach a consensus on new terminology.
“Experts in pox virology, evolutionary biology, and representatives of research institutes from across the globe reviewed the phylogeny and nomenclature of known and new monkeypox virus variants or clades,’’
The report further reviewed that the experts discussed extensively the characteristics and evolution of monkeypox virus variants, their apparent phylogenetic and clinical differences, and potential consequences for public health and future virological and evolutionary research.
Hence a consensus on new nomenclature for the virus clades as well as how the virus clades should be recorded and classified on genome sequence repository sites for best practices.
“Consensus was reached to now refer to the former Congo Basin (Central African) clade as Clade one (I) and the former West African clade as Clade two (II).
“ Additionally, it was agreed that the Clade II consists of two subclades.’’
“Thus, the new naming convention comprises Clade I, Clade IIa, and Clade IIb, with the latter referring primarily to the group of variants largely circulating in the 2022 global outbreak.
“The naming of lineages will be as proposed by scientists as the outbreak evolves.
Experts will be reconvened as needed.
“The new names for the clades should go into effect immediately while work continues on the disease and virus names,’’ the report ended.
