The World Organization of Santé (WHO) has announced that it has sold to rename the variants of the singe variole. the illness. While this was long limited to a dozen African countries, the vast majority of new cases this year were detected in other parts of the world, notably the United States, Europe and Brazil.
In a press release, the WHO also indicates that it is carrying out an extensive online consultation process to change the name of the disease, also considered misleading and discriminatory, since the virus is not linked only to monkeys but has been shown in many animals, especially rodents
a misleading name
As for the variants, also called clades, they were until now named by regions or countries in Africa, the strain being from West Africa and the one from the Congo Basin (Central Africa), the latter being much more lethal than its cousin.
At the beginning of June, some thirty scientists, many of them African, wrote a forum to request the change of these names, considering it urgent to implement “a nomenclature that is not discriminatory or stigmatizing.”
They were heard by the WHO, which brought together virologists and public health experts on August 8 to reach a consensus on a new terminology.
“A consensus was reached to designate the ancient Congo Basin (Central African) clade as clade one (I) and the ancient West African clade as clade two (II),” the WHO said on Friday.
Furthermore, “clade II was agreed to consist of two subclades. (…) Therefore, the new naming convention includes clade I, clade IIa and clade IIb, the latter referring primarily to the group of variants circulating widely in the global epidemic of 2022,” the WHO added. The new clade names are effective immediately.
Source: BFM TV
