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The New York City Health Department is asking the World Health Organization (WHO) to immediately change the name of the monkeypox virus.
In a letter to WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Gehebreyesus, the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr Ashwin Vasan, wrote that while the Big Apple remains concerned about the rapid increase in transmission and limited access to testing resources and vaccine supply, has “growing concern” about the stigmatization and “potentially devastating” impact that messages about monkeypox can have on vulnerable communities .
“I am therefore writing to urge you to act immediately to change the name of the virus from ‘monkey pox’, as the WHO said it would do during a press conference on 14 June. [five] weeks ago NYC joins many public health experts and community leaders who have expressed serious concern about continuing to exclusively use the term “monkey pox” given the stigma it can engender and the painful and racist history within which a terminology how this is rooted for communities of color. ” he said.
Tedros and the WHO declared last week that the international outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
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“Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus,” he told reporters.
The messages surrounding monkeypox have divided officials, and Tedros announced in June that the United Nations health agency is working with experts to change the name.
Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, speaks during a media availability at Elmhurst Hospital. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
People usually become infected with monkeypox virus through contact with skin lesions or body fluids of infected animals or humans or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus.
Although most cases have been seen in gay or bisexual men, experts warn that anyone is at potential risk.
A group of scientists wrote in a forum in early June that the continued reference and nomenclature of the African virus “is not only inaccurate, but also discriminatory and stigmatizing.”
The virus has now spread to more than 75 countries, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of which have not historically reported monkeypox.
According to the WHO, monkeypox is endemic to West and Central African countries.
People wait to receive the monkeypox vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Manhattan on July 26, 2022 in New York City. (Liao Pan/China News Service via Getty Images)
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“‘Monkeypox’ is a misnomer, as the virus does not originate in monkeys and was only classified as such because of an infection observed in research primates,” Vasan added.
Vasan said that continuing to use the term “monkey pox” could rekindle traumatic feelings of racism and stigma, especially for black communities, other communities of color and members of LGBTQIA+ communities.
Commissioner Ashwin Vasan speaks with health workers before the opening of a mass monkeypox vaccination site at the Bushwick Education Campus in Brooklyn on July 17, 2022. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)
Vasan also noted that hate crimes against Asian and Islander (AAPI) people have increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, warning that there could be additional consequences for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men because of the stigma.
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“Words can save lives or put them at greater risk, so the world cannot repeat these nomenclature mistakes again,” he said. “We are at a critical juncture in the ‘monkey pox’ outbreak, before understanding and awareness of the virus spreads more widely, but also at a time of increased transmission where we need to send broad messages about primary prevention and risk. WHO must act now before it is too late.”
According to city data, as of Tuesday, 1,092 people had been tested for orthopoxvirus and monkeypox, but many more cases are likely to have gone undiagnosed.
Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find her on Twitter at @JuliaElenaMusto.