The World Health Organization says it is concerned by the “racist and stigmatising language” that arose after monkeypox spread to more than 100 countries.
The highest number of cases and fatalities were reported in the Lusambo health zone, with 308 cases and 24 deaths.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the Americas account for more than half of reported cases as several countries in the continent continue to see increasing numbers of infections.
So far, more than 41,000 cases of monkeypox and 12 deaths have been reported from 96 countries, with the majority of cases from the United States.
Laboratory studies are investigating whether the rise in infections is driven by the observed genotypic changes in the virus or by host (human) factors, says World Health Organization.
When viruses jump the species barrier it often sparks concern that they could mutate dangerously, but WHO has stressed that so far there were no reports that was happening with monkeypox.
The UN health agency says monkeypox was given its name before current best practices in naming diseases.
Announcement is billed to help bolster response to the outbreak that has infected more than 6,600 Americans, around a quarter of them from New York state.
A young man in the southern Indian state of Kerala has died from monkeypox, becoming the first death in Asia and the fourth known fatality from the disease in the current outbreak.
The declaration will allow US officials to implement measures to fight against the virus that spreads through prolonged and close skin-to-skin contact and sharing bedding, towels and clothing.
The announcement came following reports of monkeypox-related fatalities outside Africa, seen in Spain and Brazil this week.
Imvanex has been approved in the EU since 2013 for the prevention of smallpox and considered a potential vaccine for monkeypox because of the similarity between the monkeypox virus and the smallpox virus.
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