In a recent interview, the Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme--Dr. Michael Ryan--said that
the pandemic of influenza in 2009 originated in North America and we didn't call it the North American flu so it's very important that we have the same approach when it comes to other viruses
So that got me wondering why does MERS, which is a relatively recent term too, include a geographical designator (M = Middle East). Basically, who was responsible for coining "MERS" as a term (and were there any objections to this term)?