Federal Government Returns to Controversial Name for Disease
In this era defined by Trump, it often feels more surprising when the federal government isn’t doing something that seems entirely unproductive. The latest move? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reverted back to the name “monkeypox”—a term many had considered outdated for the disease now known as mpox.
NPR was the first to cover this change, which seems to have taken place over the last month. Nearly three years ago, virologists advocated for phasing out monkeypox, primarily because of its potential to stigmatize and the fact that monkeys aren’t the main carriers of the virus in nature. HHS confirmed this change to Gizmodo but didn’t provide any clarification as to why.
Reasons Behind the Change
The World Health Organization (WHO) officially adopted “mpox” in November 2022 after a dedicated effort from experts to retire “monkeypox.” This new label was supported by numerous health organizations and countries, including the United States.
There are a couple of reasons for this shift. Initially, while monkeypox was first identified in lab monkeys in the 1950s, it’s now predominantly hosted by rodents. Also, since 2022, we’ve seen a significant spread among humans, indicating that the old name doesn’t quite fit our current reality. Although the outbreaks have diminished in many regions, the disease still causes serious surges of illness.
Secondly, experts have pointed out the troubling racial and ethnic implications of the name. The term “monkey” has often been used negatively in reference to Black or African individuals, and some have inaccurately portrayed monkeypox as solely an “African” disease. While mpox still sees more cases in parts of Africa, it’s clear that the virus knows no borders.
Boghuma Titanji, a researcher at Emory University hailing from Cameroon, shared with NPR how, during her efforts to inform the public about mpox outbreaks in 2022, she faced a barrage of hateful messages online. She recounted startling comments equating her to a monkey, urging her to return to Africa, and more.
The Complexity of Naming
There’s a bit of confusion in this naming process. Different organizations are responsible for naming the virus and the disease it causes. While most agencies follow WHO guidance for naming diseases, it’s the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) that assigns the virus’s formal name.
At the same time the WHO was contemplating a name change, the ICTV decided against making significant alterations to the labeling of the virus behind mpox. Although they’ve been updating classifications for many other viruses, they only added a broader label reflecting its connection to other similar pox viruses. Thus, the species is now called Orthopoxvirus monkeypox. Interestingly, many scientists have voiced their displeasure with the ICTV’s approaches to virus naming for various reasons.
This distinction could be what HHS is using to justify the name return. An HHS spokesperson mentioned, “Monkeypox is the name of the viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus.” Yet, this characterizes reality inaccurately. Most health agencies worldwide refer to it as mpox. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is still using mpox on its relevant webpage. Given that this page was last updated in April 2025, it seems inevitable that this will change soon.
As for the reasons behind the federal move, it’s hard to say. Trump and his administration have been openly critical of the WHO, going so far as to cut U.S. funding to the agency. But that doesn’t really shed light on why this decision has arisen now. Perhaps someone in Trump’s or Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s circle expressed concerns that “mpox” might be perceived as too progressive for American sensibilities.
What remains absolutely clear, though, is how completely pointless this all seems.
