With the spread among humans since
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:13 am
A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since early May among men who have sex with men, outside the African countries where it has long been endemic.
“When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatising language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
“Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term ´mpox´ as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out.”
The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then mainly limited to certain West and Central African nations.
But in May, cases of the disease, which causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, began spreading rapidly around the world.
The WHO triggered its highest level of alarm on July 24, classifying it as a public health emergency of international concern, alongside Covid-19.
More than 80,000 cases
Some 81,107 confirmed cases and 55 deaths have been telegram database reported to the WHO this year, from 110 countries.
Where the given dataset was known, 97% were men, with a median age of 34 years old; 85% identified as men who had sex with men, according to the WHO´s case dashboard.
A total of 588 cases were reported last week. Over the past four weeks, 92% of cases were reported from the Americas and 6% from Europe.
Seventy-one countries have reported no new cases in the past 21 days.
It is down to the WHO to assign names to diseases, as it did with Covid-19.
The WHO announced in August it was looking for a new name for the virus, seeking suggestions from experts, countries and the public.
“When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatising language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO,” the UN health agency said in a statement.
“Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term ´mpox´ as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while ‘monkeypox’ is phased out.”
The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then mainly limited to certain West and Central African nations.
But in May, cases of the disease, which causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, began spreading rapidly around the world.
The WHO triggered its highest level of alarm on July 24, classifying it as a public health emergency of international concern, alongside Covid-19.
More than 80,000 cases
Some 81,107 confirmed cases and 55 deaths have been telegram database reported to the WHO this year, from 110 countries.
Where the given dataset was known, 97% were men, with a median age of 34 years old; 85% identified as men who had sex with men, according to the WHO´s case dashboard.
A total of 588 cases were reported last week. Over the past four weeks, 92% of cases were reported from the Americas and 6% from Europe.
Seventy-one countries have reported no new cases in the past 21 days.
It is down to the WHO to assign names to diseases, as it did with Covid-19.
The WHO announced in August it was looking for a new name for the virus, seeking suggestions from experts, countries and the public.