Avoiding 'terms that incite fear' whilst naming diseases

Saturday, August 8, 2015

In 2009, the misnomer "swine flu" applied to the deadly H1N1 flu ended up costing the North American pork industry $200 million in lost business. Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published on its website best practices to ensure names of new human infectious diseases won't have unforeseen consequences.

Use generic descriptive terms that reference symptoms, the guidelines advise. Avoid references to location, people's names, animal species, industries and occupations. Avoid "terms that incite fear."
Elizabeth Mumford, a WHO department of food safety and zoonoses scientist, says the organization is promoting the guidelines to stakeholders such as ministries of health and the global scientific community. "We have found whoever seems to name the disease first, that name seems to stick," says Mumford. There is an official naming process but it's not "nimble."  

Hugo Rodrigues, Canadian Association of Journalists past-president, sees this effort of scientific organization to "brand" a disease "odd," and doubts writers will go for the WHO preference.

Given the choice between a complicated technical term or a simple name, most journalists opt for the latter because they write for a broad audience, he says. BP