An elderly man died on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula in the first confirmed death caused by Alaskapox virus (AKPV), according to recent reports. While experts have not yet reached a determination about how the man contracted the infectious disease, some speculate that he may have contracted it from a stray cat.
AKPV is a so-called “orthopoxvirus” and as such is related to other diseases that include the ‘-pox’ suffix including mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), cowpox and smallpox. It was first documented in Alaska in 2015, hence the name. The primary symptoms of Alaskapox include skin lesions like pustules and bumps, joint and muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes. While in most cases AKPV symptoms are mild, the disease can be deadly for individuals who are immunocompromised. Indeed, the six confirmed cases of Alaskapox since 2015 all involved minor symptoms with individuals who did not need to be hospitalized. All of those cases also occurred in or near the city of Fairbanks, which is more than 300 miles away from the Kenai Peninsula.
There are mitigating circumstances which apply in the situation of the elderly man who died of AKPV. He was in the process of undergoing cancer treatment and his immune system was suppressed as a result of the drugs. Additionally, he frequently interacted with a stray cat that would scratch him, and this cat was known to interact with prey that frequently develops AKPV infections (including red-backed voles and shrews). The man even appeared to have a scratch mark on his armpit in the same area where the first lesion appeared. As such, local officials are warning residents to be careful when interacting with wildlife and with pets that interact with wildlife.
“We are not sure exactly how the virus spreads from animals to people but contact with small mammals and potentially domestic pets who come into contact small wild mammals could play a role,” the Alaska government explains on its website.
