As New York City's health department are slow in dealing with now more than 1,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox, city leaders are calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) to immediately rename the monkeypox virus.
In a letter to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gehebreyesus, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan wrote that while the Big Apple remains concerned about rapidly increasing transmission and limited access to testing resources and vaccine supply, it has a "growing concern" for stigmatizing and "potentially devastating" impacts the messaging around monkeypox can have on vulnerable communities.
"Therefore, I write to urge you to act immediately on renaming the ‘monkeypox’ virus as the WHO stated they would do during a June 14th press briefing, over [five] weeks ago. NYC joins many public health experts and community leaders who have expressed their serious concern about continuing to exclusively use the term 'monkeypox' given the stigma it may engender, and the painful and racist history within which terminology like this is rooted for communities of color," he said.
Tedros and the WHO declared last week that the international outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
"Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus," he told reporters.
Messaging surrounding monkeypox has divided officials, and Tedros announced in June that the United Nations health agency is working with experts to change the name.
People normally become infected with the monkeypox virus through contact with the skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus.
However, since almost 99% of the cases have been seen in gay or bisexual men, online suggestions has been cropping up from all over the world to remind everyone who are really at risk.
Colorful suggestions include "Gaypox" since they are the group who are mostly infected, while others have a funny suggestion of calling it a "Booty-slam Virus" to refer to the sexual position of gay coupling.
More suggestions include calling it "Love Pustules", "Pinksockpox" and the most colorful one is "Rainbow Unicorn Sparkle".
Unless these health officials get their acts together, they will continue to be subject of ridicule online.