The World Health Organization decided to change the name of the disease to "mpox" in order to fight discrimination and stigma.

A crowd-sourced effort to find a new name for the disease was launched by the WHO in August after concerns were raised about the original name.

The reference to non-human primate is going to be dropped.

The UN health agency said thatpox will be a preferred term after a year. The concern of experts about confusion caused by a name change is mitigated by this.

The WHO said that the main issue in choosing a new name was its ability to be understood in different languages.

The first known case of the mpoxviruses was in captive monkeys. The nature of the disease is not known and it is found in rodents. The naming of different strains of the virus by reference to various parts of Africa is something that scientists are concerned about.

The experts wrote in June that being African is not only inaccurate but is also discrimination.

The strains of mpox were changed to clade I, clade II and clade IIb.

Concerns about the arrival of new Covid variants resulted in them being given names based on the Greek alphabet rather than the location in which they were first identified.

Men who have sex with men are at the center of an unprecedented global outbreak of Mpox that began in May.

The UK alone recorded 3,720 confirmed or probable cases, compared with seven in the previous year.

The move by the WHO was welcomed by Professor Paul Hunter. The new name is less confusing for people who don't know the background to the disease.

The use of racist and stigmatising language online is one of the reasons why this change has been made. Hopefully it will stop now.