Monkey pox: why the name is wrong

Genoa – The name “Monkeypox” it is blatantly wrong, for several very good reasons. Meanwhile, it is a misnomer, due to the fact that in 1958 the virus was discovered in monkeys, but not in Africa, but in Denmark.

It deserves all possible criticism the name “monkeypox” that stands out in the headlines of large and small newspapers in the Western world. A threat that the World Health Organization has labeled as a public health emergency of international interest, given its rapid spread in dozens of countries, including Italy.

Now, the name “monkeypox” is blatantly “wrong”, for several very good reasons. Meanwhile, it is a misnomerdue only to the fact that in 1958 the virus was discovered in monkeys, but not in Africa, but in Denmark, in a laboratory where research was being carried out.

In fact, the natural reservoir of the disease remains unknown. Monkeys (and humans) are just random hosts of the disease, which is apparently mostly found in rodents. In Africa the first human case was reported (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1970. Endemic to Central and West Africa, the disease is not a new health challenge and has been studied by African researchers for decades. The truth is that it has only attracted the attention of the Western world since last May, when the news of a monkeypox epidemic in several countries caused a great media outcry.

Also due to the misleading and inappropriate name: which prompted the vigorous protest of thirty scientists who rightly urge its modification, to combat racism and stigma. “The prevailing perception in the international media and scientific literature is that the monkeypox virus is endemic in people in some African countries,” they wrote, also denouncing – with other pressure groups – the shocking images used by the Western media.

The photos – which we have all seen – they represented black patients and parts of the body with impressive pustules that stimulate the imagination. And they evoke smallpox, an ancient scourge that had long since been eradicated from the face of the earth, caused by a much more lethal “cousin” virus.

The critical voices are countless. The New York City Health Commissioner has asked WHO, with a heartfelt appeal, to change the name of the disease to erase a terminology that is part of a racist and painful history for the African American community.

What is a name? All. In particular for some diseases. It can be used to blame and stigmatize minorities and groups. And also as a geopolitical weapon: in 2020 the then US President Donald Trump called Sars-Cov-2 the “Chinese virus”, accusing China of having created it in secret and dangerous laboratories.

Explaining the reason for the name Covid-19, attributed to the disease destined to shock the world, WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was necessary to find an appropriate name: that it did not refer to a geographical location, to an animal, to an individual or ethnicity and that it was easily related to the disease. It is to be hoped that, with these guidelines, the Commission will promptly change a name and eliminate the mass of misunderstandings it carries with it.