The WHO has announced new names for variants of the monkeypox virus
This is to avoid causing any cultural or social offence, the WHO said in a statement
A group of global experts convened by the WHO decided on the new names
Experts will now refer to the former Congo Basin clade (group of variants) in Central Africa as Clade I, and the former West African clade as Clade II
The global health agency added that the new names for the clades should be used immediately
The monkeypox virus was named when it was first discovered in 1958
Major variants were identified by the geographic regions where they were known to circulate
The new names for the clades should go into effect immediately while work continues on the disease and virus names
There have now been 27,814 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 11 deaths from the disease in 89 countries