Yes, Viruses Used To Be Named After Places. Here’s Why They Aren’t Anymore.
The White House defended the phrase “Chinese Virus” as no different than West Nile, Zika and Ebola viruses, but experts say that practice is harmful.
By Josephine Harvey
03/18/2020 07:50 pm ET Updated 2 days ago
Despite repeated advice from the medical community that naming diseases after their place of origin has no benefit and actually causes harm, President Donald Trump and some conservative media figures continue to use the phrase “Chinese Virus” to describe the new coronavirus.
In 2015, the World Health Organization issued new guidelines for naming new infectious diseases in humans. The guidelines are meant to “minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people.”
The best practice for naming diseases, WHO states, should consist of generic terms that describe the disease’s symptoms, or, if the pathogen that causes the disease is known, it should be part of the disease name.
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John Yang, the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, explained to HuffPost that rhetoric like the president’s needlessly stigmatizes entire communities. Asian Americans, for example, are already facing greater violence and hate linked to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Citing data recorded from AAAJ’s reporting tool for hate incidents, Yang noted a “definite significant increase” in incidents “directly attributable to COVID-19.”
While naming a virus based on the location of its first reported case or original epicenter might have been the norm in the past, Yang said, the practice now goes against clear guidelines designed to minimize harm.
“We all know that language evolves,” Yang said. “What may have been an appropriate term in the past doesn’t make it appropriate now.”
As an example, Yang cited old naming conventions for hurricanes, which received exclusively female names until the practice was dropped in 1978 when the meteorological community caved to pressure.
“We all recognized at a certain point that that was sexist and silly, so we don’t do it now,” Yang said.
Asked about Trump’s use of the term “Chinese Virus,” Dr. Mike Ryan, the executive director of WHO’s emergency program, said at a press conference on Wednesday that it was something everyone should avoid.
“It’s been very clear since the beginning that the viruses know no borders, and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin,” he said.
He noted that the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus pandemic (referred to as “swine flu” early on) originated in North America.
“We didn’t call it the North American flu, so it’s very important that we have the same approach when it comes to other viruses,” Ryan said.
more at huffpost.com |
