This 2003 electron microscopic (EM) image depicted a monkeypox virion, obtained from a clinical sample associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. It was a thin section image from of a human skin sample. On the left were mature, oval-shaped virus particles, and on the right were the crescents, and spherical particles of immature virions. (Cynthia S. Goldsmith/Russell Regnery/CDC via Bay City News)

State public health officials said Wednesday that they will avoid using the term monkeypox when possible going forward, referring to the virus instead as MPX.

The California Department of Public Health said it will refer to the virus as monkeypox on first reference in written communication and the abbreviation, pronounced M-pox, on all further references. State officials will also call the virus MPX when speaking.

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Eli covers public health, transportation and state politics for the Bay City News Foundation, serves as the main editor of the Public Health and COVID-19 Information Hub and assists with Local News Matters' social media strategy. He has also previously covered local politics in San Diego County as well as college and professional sports across the Bay Area.