Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Health officials in Alaska announced the first known death linked to the newly discovered Alaskapox virus.
According to the state Department of Health, Gunn has reported 7 cases of Alaska smallpox since its discovery in 2015, and the latest case was detected in an elderly man who died last month.
“This is the first case of severe Alaskabux infection resulting in hospitalization and death,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement last week.
Officials indicated that the man had a weakened immune system as a result of undergoing cancer treatment, which likely contributed to the severity of his illness.
Experts said that the symptoms of the disease are mostly mild, infection is rare in humans, and the virus is found primarily within small populations of mammals throughout Alaska.
“Six of the 7 cases were mild and self-limited, so the patient did not even need to receive any supportive care from health care providers,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, state epidemiologist and chief of epidemiology at the Alaska Department of Health.
However, McLaughlin pointed out that there are still many unknown aspects about the virus, including how it spreads from animals to humans, and how long it has been around.
What is it “alaskabox“؟
Discover “alaskabox” Only recently, however, did McLaughlin point out that the virus is endemic in small populations of mammals in Alaska, and regularly infects voles and red-backed voles, in addition to other rodents such as red squirrels.
The virus belongs to the Orthopox (orthopoxvirus) family, which also includes well-known viruses such as smallpox and impox (monkeypox), which mostly infect mammals and cause skin lesions.
McLaughlin pointed out that “alaskabox“ It belongs to “Old World” viruses, usually found in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
“It is very likely that this virus has been present in Alaska for hundreds, if not thousands of years,” he said.
But the appearance of more cases of Alaska smallpox does not mean that the virus has become more widespread among the state’s small mammals in recent years.
“What has changed is the awareness of doctors and the general public that Alaskabox virus is a possibility,” McLaughlin explained. “The cases could have occurred before 2015, and were just non-clinical or mildly clinical cases, so they were not diagnosed.”
‘Geographically different’ virus
Although it’s unclear when the virus began spreading in the state, infections trace to contact with animals, according to Dr. Julia Rogers, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (CDC) assigned to the Alaska Department of Health.
The first case of Alaska smallpox was discovered in July 2015, in a woman living near Fairbanks in central Alaska, according to the state health department. Since then, 5 additional cases have been reported in the Fairbanks area.
The latest case, which led to the first known death from Alaskabox, was also the first case discovered outside of Fairbanks.
Officials said it was reported about 500 miles (about 800 kilometers) south of the Kenai Peninsula.
This suggests that Alaskan boch disease is more geographically widespread than previously thought.
“We were able to sequence the virus from this patient, and that really showed that there was a difference between this case and the clusters of cases that we were able to sequence in Fairbanks,” Rogers said.
However, Rogers added that the recent finding may be due to geographic differences in the virus, rather than a result of transmission from the Fairbanks area.
Symptoms of the “Alaskabococcus” virus and methods of treatment
According to the state Department of Health, with the exception of the last case, all those infected with “Alaskabox” suffered from a mild illness that disappeared on its own after a few weeks.
McLaughlin noted that symptoms usually include one or more skin lesions that initially look like a spider bite.
Those affected can also suffer from swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, and fever.
Health officials reported that people with weakened immune systems can suffer from more serious symptoms, and the man who died from “Alaskabox” suffered from slow wound healing, malnutrition, acute kidney failure, and respiratory failure.
Antiviral treatments and immunoglobulin may be prescribed, McLaughlin said.
Experts stated that although the Orthopox virus strain can be spread between people through direct contact with skin lesions, there is no evidence that a person infected with “Alaskabox” can transmit it to another person.
“People outside of Alaska need not be concerned,” McLaughlin explained, adding, “Alaska residents should be aware that they can become infected.”
2024-02-15 12:28:08
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