Poxy McPoxface, TRUMP-22 or Mpox: these some of the ideas sent in by the public to the World Health Organization as it seeks a new name for monkeypox.
Often disease names are chosen behind closed doors by a technical committee, but the WHO has this time decided to open up the process to the public. After a slow start, dozens of submissions have now been made from a range of contributors including academics, doctors, and a gay community activist.
They range from the technical (OPOXID-22, submitted by Harvard Medical School emergency physician Jeremy Faust) to the farcical (Poxy McPoxface, submitted by Andrew Yi in an allusion to Boaty McBoatface — almost the name of a British polar research vessel after a public vote on the choice).