The World Health Organization announced on the 12th that it would rename the monkeypox virus branch, and the new name will consist of Roman numerals and lowercase English letters.

WHO said in a statement that a global panel of experts convened by the organization has agreed on a new name for the monkeypox virus branch. The new name will use Roman numerals for the viral branch and lowercase letters for the subbranch. For example, experts now refer to the former Congo Basin branch as Clark I, and the former West African branch as Clark II. Clade II includes two subclades, IIa and IIb, of which IIb is the main group of virus variants circulating in the 2022 monkeypox epidemic.

WHO said it will continue to work on naming monkeypox diseases and viruses, while the new names of the branches will take effect immediately. Current practice in naming newly identified viruses and their branches, related diseases is to avoid harm to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic group, etc., and to minimize the negative impact of such designations on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare.

monkeypox virus was named when it was first discovered in 1958, when the current customary practice of naming diseases and viruses was not adopted.

WHO declared the monkeypox outbreak in many countries to constitute a "public health emergency of international concern" on July 23. This is the highest level of public health alert that WHO can issue at this time.

According to the WHO monkeypox epidemic report released on August 10, 89 countries and regions have reported 27,814 laboratory-confirmed cases and 11 deaths to WHO, most of which are from Europe and the Americas.