Mpox, monkey pox, monkey pox… what should we call the virus that has just arrived in Europe ?

Increasingly present in Africa and arriving in Europe in recent days, the virus which causes severe skin lesions is called in different ways. Here's why.

A first case detected on the European continent in Sweden, but still no official name for this virus that is increasingly raging in Africa. Despite the global alert recently triggered by the WHO, many do not know whether to call this infection monkeypox, Mpox, or monkeypox.

Historically, the virus was named this way when it was discovered in monkeys in 1958 in Copenhagen, Denmark. "These monkeys had skin lesions that resembled human smallpox, hence the name monkeypox, given to this disease" explains the Pasteur Institute which specifies that : “Although it is still frequently called “monkeypox”, it is not via monkeys that this disease is transmitted to humans, but from rodents”.

“Racist and stigmatizing remarks”

It was not until 2022, during a global epidemic of this virus, WHO notices that "racist and stigmatizing remarks have been observed online, in other contexts and in certain communities". A major consultation is then launched internationally and new names are proposed, in conjunction with government authorities in 45 countries, specify our colleagues at La Dépêche du Midi.

The name "Mpox", an abbreviation of the English name for the disease monkeypox, is then chosen, WHO said in a statement issued in 2022. “WHO will adopt the term Mpox in its communications and encourages others to follow these recommendations, in order to minimize any ongoing negative impact of the current name and the adoption of the new name,” the organization said at the time. From now on, it is therefore the term “Mpox” that it is recommended to use.