世衛組織將逐步淘汰“monkeypox”的名稱改為“mpox”
海倫·布蘭斯韋爾 (Helen Branswell) 2022 年 11 月 28 日 / 自然
載玻片右側顯示的猴痘或 mpox 顆粒。NIAID
世界衛生組織週一表示，明年將逐步取消猴痘“monkeypox”這一疾病的名稱，取而代之的是 mpox。自去年 5 月首次發現目前的國際疫情爆發以來，人們普遍呼籲更改名稱，因此做出了這一決定。
許多人認為這種疾病的名稱甚至病毒本身會加劇感染帶來的恥辱感——世界衛生組織在其發布的宣布改變的聲明中提到了這種情緒。
聲明說：「當今年早些時候猴痘疫情擴大時，在其他環境和一些社區發現並向世衛組織報告了種族主義和污名化語言」。「在幾次公開和非公開會議上，一些個人和國家提出了擔憂，並要求世衛組織提出更名的方法」。
WHO 有權根據國際疾病分類 (the International Classification of Diseases, ICD) 命名並有時重新命名疾病，這實際上是全球疾病的聖經。在 ICD 中，每種疾病都被分配了一個代碼，世界各國將其用於健康計費目的以及收集和研究健康數據。
給現有疾病起新名字並不常見，儘管這種情況時有發生。因染色體異常現在被稱為三染色體症(trisomy 21)的先天性疾病以前被稱為唐氏綜合症，這個名稱被用來取代不可被接受的術語蒙古症。
通常，重命名疾病的過程需要數年時間。世衛組織承認，這一次，雖然確實涉及與專家和國家的磋商，但工作的進度加快了。還邀請公眾提出替代名稱。
世衛組織的聲明稱，將在一年內完成向新名稱的過渡，以盡量減少混淆，並讓該機構有時間更新其各種與猴痘相關的出版物。 monkeypox 一詞將保留在 ICD 中，以降低使用舊術語的研究與使用 mpox 的研究之間脫節的風險。
世界衛生組織可能會滿足一些對猴痘一詞的批評，但它不會將這個詞從科學文獻中移除。那是因為病毒本身的名稱似乎並沒有改變。
相關議題：世衛組織重新命名猴痘譜系，遠離與地理之聯繫
更改病毒名稱的權力是國際病毒分類委員會 (the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, ICTV) 的職權範圍，迄今為止，該委員會已表示不願刪除猴痘一詞，理由是擔心給病毒命名可能會損害科學文獻的連續性新名字。
ICTV 正在修改病毒名稱，使其與其他物種的二名法命名協議相對應。但負責重新命名痘病毒的委員會主席在 8 月份告訴 STAT，猴痘很可能會變成正痘病毒猴痘 (Orthopoxvirus monkeypox)。
上週，科林麥金尼斯表示，這種觀點在他的委員會成員中仍然占主導地位。
「可以說大多數人希望與傳統名稱保持聯繫，但我們尚未做出任何最終決定」，蘇格蘭莫雷登研究所副所長麥金尼斯說。
6 月，由幾位來自非洲的著名研究人員領導的國際科學家小組呼籲重新命名病毒的進化枝，這些進化枝以地理名稱剛果盆地和西非為人所知，以它們最初出現的非洲部分地區命名確定。世界衛生組織有一項疾病命名協議，其中規定，疾病不應以地名或人名命名。
科學家們建議用中性名稱稱呼這些進化枝，剛果盆地的進化枝 1 和西非的進化枝 2。
ICTV 和 WHO 都不負責命名病毒進化枝；這是一個不太正式的過程。從本質上講，進化枝是科學家在科學論文中對它們的稱呼。自從發出重命名進化枝的呼籲以來，進化枝 1 和進化枝 2 的名稱被廣泛採用。
關於作者：海倫.布蘭斯韋爾
資深的傳染病作家，海倫文章涵蓋與傳染病廣泛相關的問題，包括爆發、準備、研究和疫苗開發。 @HelenBranswell
WHO to phase out the name ‘monkeypox’ for ‘mpox’
By Helen Branswell Nov. 28, 2022 / Nature
Monkeypox, or mpox, particles shown on the right side of a slide.NIAID
The World Health Organization said Monday it will phase out the name of the disease monkeypox over the next year, replacing it with the term mpox. The decision follows widespread calls for changing the name since the current international outbreak of the disease was first detected last May.
The name of the disease and even the virus itself has been deemed by many to exacerbate the stigma attached to the infection — a sentiment the WHO referenced in the statement it issued announcing the change.
“When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO,” the statement said. “In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name.”
The WHO has the authority to name and on occasion rename diseases under the International Classification of Diseases, which is in effect the global bible of diseases. In the ICD, each disease is assigned a code that countries around the world use for health billing purposes and to collect and research health data.
It is not common to give existing diseases new names, though it does happen from time to time. The congenital condition now known as trisomy 21 was previously called Down syndrome, a name chosen to replace the unacceptable term Mongolism.
Typically the process of renaming a disease takes a number of years. The WHO acknowledged that this time, the work was done on an accelerated schedule, though it did involve consultation with experts and countries. The general public was also invited to propose replacement names.
The WHO statement said the transition to the new name will be done over the course of a year to minimize confusion and give the agency time to update its various monkeypox-related publications. The term monkeypox will remain in the ICD, to lower the risk of a disconnect between studies that used the old terminology and those that use mpox.
The WHO will likely satisfy some critics of the term monkeypox, but it will not drive the word from the scientific literature. That’s because the name of the virus itself does not appear to be changing.
Related: WHO renames lineages of monkeypox, moving away from geographic links
Authority to change the name of a virus is the purview of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which to date has expressed unwillingness to drop the term monkeypox, citing a fear that the continuity of the scientific literature could be compromised by giving the virus a new name.
The ICTV is in the process of revising the names of viruses to make them correspond to the binomial naming protocol for other species. But the chairman of the committee responsible for renaming poxviruses told STAT in August that monkeypox will likely become Orthopoxvirus monkeypox.
Last week, Colin McInnes indicated that view remains the prevailing one among his committee members.
“Suffice to say the majority wanted a link to be maintained with the traditional names, but we have not made any final decisions yet,” said McInnes, who is deputy director of Scotland’s Moredun Research Institute.
In June, an international group of scientists, led by several prominent researchers from Africa, called for a renaming of the clades of the virus, which are known by the geographic names Congo Basin and West African, after the parts of Africa where they were first identified. The WHO has a protocol for the naming of diseases that stipulates, among other things, that they should not be named after places or people.
The scientists proposed calling the clades by neutral names, clade 1 for Congo Basin and clade 2 for West Africa.
Neither the ICTV nor the WHO are responsible for naming viral clades; that is a far less formal process. Clades are known, in essence, by what scientists call them in scientific papers. And since the call to rename the clades was issued, there has been widespread adoption of the names clade 1 and clade 2.
About the Author
Helen Branswell
Senior Writer, Infectious Diseases
Helen covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development.
@HelenBranswell