A group of experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) has given new names to the monkeypox virus variants

And the names for the virus and the disease itself look set to change soon too.

Let's unpack the changes and why this is happening.

What are the new names?

There are two monkeypox variants — one of those having two subvariants.

After the WHO-convened meeting of virologists and public health experts, it was decided:

The Congo Basin variant will now be referred to as Clade one
The West African variant will now be referred to as Clade two
The experts agreed the second clade consisted of two subclades.

And they decided on a naming convention with a Roman numeral for the clade number and a lower-case letter for the subclades.

So the new names are:

Clade I
Clade IIa
Clade IIb
Clade IIb is the group of variants dominating the current global outbreak.

The WHO says these name changes should come into effect immediately.

What is a clade?

It's a term for a group of organisms that come from a common ancestor.

Are they changing the name 'monkeypox'?
It looks very much like it, but we don't know when that will happen yet.

The WHO is holding an open consultation to come up with the new disease name — and is currently taking suggestions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/monkypox-variant-names-changed-clade/101336662

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