WHO announces new names for Monkeypox variants as clades I, IIa , IIb

New Delhi [India], August 13: The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced new names for variants of the monkeypox virus that are currently a global outbreak in order to avoid causing any cultural or social offence. World Health Organisation (WHO), named Monkeypox variants as Clades I, IIa and IIb. Also Read | Salman Rushdie on ventilator after attack, may lose an eye WHO said in a statement that, "Newly identified viruses, related diseases and virus variants are given names to avoid causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups, and minimize the negative impact on trade, travel, tourism, or animal welfare." "A group of global experts convened by WHO has agreed on new names for monkeypox virus variants, as part of ongoing efforts to align the names of the monkeypox disease, virus and variants--or clades--with current best practices. The experts agreed to name the clades using Roman numerals," statement reads. "The group reached consensus on new nomenclature for the virus clades which is in line with best practices. They agreed on how the virus clades should be recorded and classified on genome sequence repository sites," read the statement. According to WHO, "Consensus was reached to now refer to the former Congo Basin (Central African) clade as Clade one (I) and the former West African clade as Clade two (II). Additionally, it was agreed that the Clade II consists of two subclades." Meanwhile, Delhi reported its fifth monkeypox case with a 22-year-old African woman testing positive for the infection, official sources said on Saturday.  The woman had travelled to Nigeria a month ago. Also Read |'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign starts: Amit Shah, ITBP hoist national flag Last month, the World Health Organization had declared Monkeypox as a global health emergency. -PTC News with ANI inputs