AlaskaPox Virus

AlaskaPox Virus

AlaskaPox virus is species of the Orthopoxvirus genus first documented in 2015 in Alaska,United states .As of February 2024,there are seven reported cases of illness and one death caused by the virus,six of which occurred in Fairbanks North Star Borough and one in Kenai Peninsula Borough 

Discovery

In July 2015 , a woman visited a clinic in Fairbanks,Alaska with lesions that were proven to contain an orthopox virus but did not match any known members of the genus .subsequent genetic analysis established that the woman ,who recovered,had been infected with a novel Orthopox virus .The name Alaskapox virus was meant after full analysis of its genome was published in 2019 

Cases

In 2020 the Alaska Department of Health and social Services declared the second known infections of Alaskapox in another Fairbanks Woman .Two additional cases were reported in the Fairbanks Alaske Section of Epidemiology .Until December2023 ,all known cases had been mild ,not requiring hospitalization

 

In late January 2024 a Kenai man with an immunocompromising condition detected with Alaska pox died becoming the first death and first reported case outside of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. the patient stated that a stray cat had scratched him near the lesion appeared in September 2023 the man went to seek medical attention due to a tender red bump in his armpit. 

Signs and Symptoms

In the detected cases Alaskapox virus causes small lesions on the skin that heal after a few weeks, according to the Alaska Department of Health and social services, but the first known patient shown the Lesion took six months to fully resolve, Other reported signs include joint or muscle pain and swollen Lymph nodes

Transmission/spread.

Transmission of virus to humans is passed through small animals, but it is not entirely clear, how this is transmitted. As per 2021, there has not been proved evidence of spread among humans

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