The World Health Organization (WHO) and its media supporters are doubling down on insanity.
At the beginning of 2020, there was a concerted effort to force everyone to use socially approved terms for the novel coronavirus, which was initially termed the “Wuhan Flu” due to the likely possibility it originated in the research labs of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Now, scientists are pressing for the rebranding of monkeypox, claiming it is discriminatory and stigmatizing.
The World Health Organization will officially rename monkeypox, in light of concerns about stigma and racism surrounding the virus that has infected over 1,600 people in more than two dozen countries.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director general, announced Tuesday morning that the organization is “working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes.” He said the WHO will make announcements about the new names as soon as possible.More than 30 international scientists said last week that the monkeypox label is discriminatory and stigmatizing, and there’s an “urgent” need to rename it. The current name doesn’t fit with WHO guidelines that recommend avoiding geographic regions and animal names, a spokesperson said.
There are simply no serious people in charge at WHO.
The basis for this senseless drama is the fact that monkeypox was originally identified in the Congo.
In a letter published June 10, scientists wrote that while the origin of the current monkeypox outbreak is still unknown, there is an inaccurate narrative linking all cases to Africa.”In the context of the current global outbreak, continued reference to, and nomenclature of this virus being African is not only inaccurate but is also discriminatory and stigmatizing,” the letter states.Monkeypox was named because it was first identified in 1958 in colonies of monkeys. The first human case of the virus was found in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the CDC.
Something that should be of much more concern to us is the fact WHO is trying to gin up more angst and panic related to the current outbreaks of the disease. Officials indicate there is a ‘real risk’ to the public.
The World Health Organization’s top official in Europe on Wednesday called for urgent action by the authorities and civic groups to control fast-rising cases of monkeypox that he said posed a real risk to public health.Europe has emerged as the epicenter of an outbreak of monkeypox, with more than 1,500 cases identified in 25 European countries, which account for 85 percent of global cases, the official, Dr. Hans Kluge, the W.H.O.’s director of its European region, said at a news conference.The W.H.O. will convene its emergency committee in Geneva next week, Dr. Kluge added, to determine if the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, a formal declaration that calls for a coordinated response between countries.“The magnitude of this outbreak poses a real risk,” Dr. Kluge said. “The longer the virus circulates, the more it will extend its reach, and the stronger the disease’s foothold will get in nonendemic countries.”
Perhaps WHO would do better to concentrate its messaging on the fact that the virus appears now to be sexually transmitted.
The World Health Organisation is looking into reports that the monkeypox virus is present in the semen of patients, exploring the possibility that the disease could be sexually transmitted, a WHO official said on Wednesday.Many cases in the current monkeypox outbreak, largely centred on Europe, are among sexual partners who have had close contact, and the agency reiterated that virus is mainly transmitted via close interpersonal contact.In recent days, scientists say they have detected viral DNA in the semen of a handful of monkeypox patients in Italy and Germany, including a lab-tested sample that suggested the virus found in the semen of a single patient was capable of infecting another person and replicating.
If WHO officials want to regain any credibility, they will ignore activist demands and focus on real epidemiology and hard data.
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