WHAT’S IN A NAME?
– WHAT’S THE
T
he Edmonton Eskimos became the Edmonton Elks, and Confederation Bridge may soon be Epekwitk Crossing. With the fight for social justice that has emerged following George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis come calls to rename schools, streets, and institutions reflecting racist, sexist, or otherwise problematic historical figures and ideologies to reflect current standards and beliefs. This decision seems a straightforward one, as the honouring of an individual in such a manner indicates to some extent, a validation of their actions. However, many worry that treating such action as the end-all-be-all, without further examination of the continued struggles and difficulties faced by minority populations, is nothing more than a novel way for governments and organizations to free themselves of culpability for these issues and skirt any acknowledgement of the injustices still prevalent in modern society. While not nearly as wrought with controversy as the idea of renaming Toronto’s iconic Dundas St — Scottish politician Henry Dundas, its namesake, was staunchly opposed to the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, the World Health Organization (WHO) decision to rename the decades-old disease formerly known as “monkeypox” to “mpox” following the 2022 outbreak brings to mind many of the same concerns as these more contentious name changes.
The Heart of the “Monkey” Mpox is a smallpox-like virus transmitted from animals to humans and was initially named for an outbreak amongst lab monkeys in Copenhagen in 1958, though its true animal reservoir is suspected to be small rodents. It has long been endemic (regularly occurring in a relatively controlled manner) to Central and West Africa. In humans, mpox is characterized by a rash and flu-like symptoms, generally appearing within three weeks of exposure. Prior to the 2022 spread of mpox to non-endemic countries such as the United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, Canada, and the United States of America, occurrence of the disease was rare, and could typically be traced back to close contact with open sores or blisters from infected travelers or transported animals. However, the majority of cases of mpox in non-endemic areas for the current international outbreak have no established connections to travel from endemic areas, and occur in gay or bisexual men who have sex with men (gbMSM). The removal of the word “monkey” from the name of the disease aims primarily to combat the racist connotations the word carries, given the virus’ endemic nature in several African countries, and concurrently to correct the insinuation that monkeys are the animal reservoir for the virus. Addition18 IMMpress Vol. 11 No. 2 2023
ally, there is hope that a bland name will reduce the stigma associated with having the disease and avoid discrimination towards the 2SLGBTQI+ community, as was witnessed with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, the current mpox outbreak can be arguably traced back to a general neglect within Western medicine of the health of marginalized individuals, such as members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and those living in regions considered “far from home,” namely Black Africans. Simultaneously, these individuals are forced to bear a significant portion of the blame for the spread of the disease through biased reporting in Western media outlets.
Therefore, this renaming is a crucial first step, but is by no means a definitive solution to the inequalities associated with mpox.
In a Land “Far, Far, Away” Historical research regarding mpox has been relegated to the category of tropical diseases, which receive less funding and attention than those considered to have a large impact on Western society. Despite the inevitable spread of mpox to Europe and America through travel, there remain an unacceptable number of questions regarding the virus’ epidemiology, diagnosis, and virology. Over the years since the first human instance of mpox, Africa has reported dozens of outbreaks and case numbers in the tens of thousands, all of which have failed to raise alarm outside the continent. The recurrent surges of human mpox in Africa could likely have been arrested if not for the unequal access to vaccines and health care resources faced by those living in the Global South. Meanwhile, a 2003 mpox outbreak in the United States was expeditiously traced back to a shipment of prairie dogs housed next to infected giant pouched rats from Ghana. A ban on the importation of African rodents rapidly followed and the disease was quickly controlled, and subsequently forgotten, with no further efforts made to combat the disease in Africa. Dr. Dimie Ogoina — the Nigerian physician responsible for the 2017 identification of the first known case of an mpox outbreak in Nigeria (the first case in the country for 38 years), and the first known case of the international mpox outbreak — was summarily told not to worry when he raised alarms that the virus had changed and was now spreading between humans, often through sexual contact. In the intervening five years since Dr. Ogoina’s discovery, international governing bodies could have taken steps to prevent the virus from spreading, not only throughout Nigeria, but to other
