Alaska health officials reported the state’s first fatal case of Alaskapox, which is a recently discovered virus-caused disease.
An elderly man who lived on his own in rural Alaska is the first casualty of ‘Alaskapox’ – a rare disease identified only nine years ago.The unidentified, immunocompromised man died in late January weeks after he became the seventh person to ever contract the virus while living in Kenai Peninsula.As of Sunday, it’s still unclear how he contracted it – though the fact that he did confirms it has spread beyond local wildlife populations and into local communities.Already a cancer patient, the man first reported signs of infection in September, citing a tender lesion that appeared near his armpit. The infection worsened, and after six weeks of emergency visits from state officials, he was hospitalized locally.
The Alaskapox virus was discovered less than 10 years ago. Infections are rare, and cases of the disease are usually mild.
The Alaskapox virus was first identified in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2015, according to the Alaska Department of Health. Since then, there have been only seven cases reported in the state, according to the state health department….”Alaskapox remains rare,” Dr. Joe McLaughlin, state epidemiologist and chief of the Alaska Division of Public Health Section of Epidemiology, told ABC News. “For the vast majority of people who may come in contact with this virus, the clinical course will likely be mild.”The virus typically occurs in small animals, commonly identified in voles and shrews, according to the Alaska State Department of Health. There have been no reports of human-to-human spread, according to the state health agency.”There’s no evidence so far [of] person-to-person transmission for the cases that have been identified,” Julia Rogers, Ph.D., epidemic intelligence service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention embedded with the Alaska Department of Health, told ABC News.
There are suspicions that he was infected via a cat scratch.
He notably lived alone with “no recent travel and no close contacts with recent travel, illness, or similar lesions.” He cared for a stray cat that had scratched him, he told officials. “The route of exposure in this case remains unclear, although scratches from the stray cat represent a possible source of inoculation through fomite transmission,” health officials have shared. “SOE is working with the University of Alaska Museum and CDC to test small mammals for AKPV outside of the Interior region.”
Veterinarians are using the news of this infection to remind cat owners of the risks of allowing their pets to roam outside.
Dr Cuevas told DailyMail.com owners should not allow cats to lick them or encourage cats to bite or scratch them.Additionally, keeping your cat current on flea and tick preventative measures and vaccines is vital.She said: ‘Keep up to date with your cat’s vaccination and deworming schedules, and ensure your cat gets a complete health check at least once a year. Ensure your cat is free from external parasites like fleas or ticks, which can be vectors of several diseases that can infect not only your cat but also you if you get bitten.’
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