The WHO is proceeding cautiously in its search for a name for the new Corona virus, to ensure it does not stigmatize the city of Wuhan in which it appeared or the Chinese people.

The temporary name given to the virus by the UN, for which it declared a global health emergency, is "2019-inKuVi".

This designation indicates the year in which it appeared and that it is a new Corona virus, that is, the group of viruses to which it belongs.

And Friday, Maria Van Kirkhoff - who oversees the Emerging Diseases Unit at the Geneva Health Organization - declared, "We thought it was very important to find a temporary name for him not to associate his name with any place."

"I am sure you all have seen many press information referring to him by talking about Wuhan or China and we wanted to make sure that there would be no stigma," she said during a meeting of the organization's executive committee.

The final decision will take days, and it is the responsibility of the WHO and the experts of the ICRC to classify and sort the viruses into categories.

Recommendations
According to recommendations from 2015, the WHO is keen to avoid the names of regions such as Zika or Ebola where these diseases have been discovered, as they become closely related to the epidemic in collective memory.

Recently, Sylvie Bryan, director of the WHO's Global Department of Epidemiological Risk, found that using a geographical designation was a "futile burden".

More generic names such as "Spanish flu" should also be avoided, as they may contribute to the stigmatization of regions or groups in a given society.

The H1N1 virus was sometimes called the "Mexican flu", and this "was not a pleasant thing for the Mexican people," Brian said.

"We must verify that a class is not linked to the disease, and to refer to individuals on an ethnic basis that is totally unacceptable and ineffective," said WHO Director of Emergency Programs Michael Ryan.

The organization also indicated that the use of an animal reference may cause confusion, as was the case with the H1N1 virus, known as "swine flu". The designation had negative consequences for the entire economic sector, even if the infection was restricted to humans.

Avoid the names of people
It also prohibits the use of the names of people, often the name of the scientist who discovered the disease, as well as expressions that may raise "unjustified fears" as "unknown" or "killer".

"We have seen that the names of some diseases cause negative reactions to ethnic or religious groups and create unjustified obstacles to movement, trade, or the useless elimination of domestic animals," the WHO declared in its recommendations.

The organization recommends the use of descriptive names that are short and easy to pronounce.

"We really try to be as neutral as possible and also help as much as we can, because we have to name things with a name that is generalized all over the world if we want to fight the enemy in the same way," Brian said.

Meanwhile, China announced Saturday that the virus will be temporarily named "Coronavirus".