2024-02-13 17:51:48
United States health authorities confirmed the first death from Alaska smallpox, also known as Alaskapox. The victim, an elderly, immunocompromised man from the Kenai Peninsula, succumbed to the virus while receiving treatment in late January, marking a tragic episode in the spread of this rare disease.
Alaskapox, previously more common in small mammals, had been first identified in an adult in Fairbanks in 2015, however, this fatal case took months to be diagnosed, as previous cases only presented mild symptoms in patients, Alaska health officials are baffled by the sudden severity of the virus and the delay in its detection.
The first case of this smallpox-like disease was detected in 2015. Since then, the virus popularly known as Alaska smallpox has infected 7 people.
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According to the entity, the deceased is an older adult from the Kenai Peninsula who contracted the disease in September 2023. Doctors prescribed the man antibiotics without any improvement and in November he was hospitalized. The patient died at the end of January.
And reports indicate that the man was taking care of a stray cat that regularly hunted small mammals and scratched him frequently. Although the animal tested negative for antibodies and orthopoxvirus, scientists hypothesize that the scratches may represent a possible source of inoculation through fomite transmission.
According to state epidemiologist Julia Rogers, the documented effects of Alaskapox infections in people were fairly mild, with symptoms such as rashes, fever and fatigue. “The previous six cases were identified in an outpatient setting and were mild illnesses that largely resolved within a few weeks without hospitalization,” she told local media.
First death in the United States from smallpox
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