Corona Daily 495: A virus by any other name…

Who names the viruses? - WHO names the viruses.

The current pathogen was initially called the “Wuhan Seafood market pneumonia virus”, not exactly a catchy name. On 11 Feb 2020, WHO stepped in to officially baptize it.

Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease-2019) is the name of the disease, not the virus. The virus is called SARS-CoV-2. (Like AIDS is a disease, but HIV a virus). Surprisingly, in the same breath, WHO said those who remember SARS may get frightened by its latest reincarnation. As a concession, it’s considered all right to refer to it as a virus causing Covid-19.

Before this, Swine flu had caused monumental confusion. Pigs were not a problem, it was contracted from birds. But worried by the name, Egyptian authorities culled more than 300,000 pigs, burying many alive. Since pigs disgust Jews, Israel proposed calling it ‘Mexican flu’, until the Mexican ambassador sternly objected.

Spanish flu, the greatest pandemic before the current one, didn’t start in Spain. After the First World War, Spain had the most liberal press and the courage to talk openly about the epidemic. As a result, Spain got the honour, though it could have originated in Britain, USA or China.  

In 1981, AIDS was called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency). This was both offensive as well as misleading. In Sept 1982, it was renamed AIDS.

In 2015, WHO issued virus-naming guidelines that disallow names of places or animals. No more Ebola (a river in Congo) or Middle East respiratory syndrome, or Mad Cow please. No matter how desperate Trump maybe to call it the ‘Chinese virus’.

Finally, calling it just Coronavirus is also imprecise. In all, this is the seventh Coronavirus. The first four are mild, flu-like. Fifth was SARS (2003), sixth MERS (2012) and now COVID-19, the seventh.

“Novel” is allowed as a prefix, recognizing this term will become obsolete, when a similar one appears in the future. SARS and MERS were also “novel” when they first appeared.

This is one area where the world could do without more novelties.

Ravi