New York Times Alaska state health officials said that a man died last month of the virus, which occurs mostly in small mammals and causes lesions. There have been seven reported human cases since 2015.
An Alaska man died last month of Alaskapox, a rare virus that occurs mostly in small mammals and can cause skin lesions, according to state health officials.
Alaskapox was first identified in 2015 in a woman who lived near Fairbanks, Alaska, and there have been a total of seven cases of the virus reported to the Alaska Section of Epidemiology. Until last month, no one had been hospitalized or died of Alaskapox, which can also cause swollen lymph nodes and muscle or joint pain, Alaska epidemiology officials said on Friday.
Of the seven people who have had Alaskapox, six lived in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, where red-backed voles and shrews have been found to have the virus, according to the Alaska Department of Health. Alaskapox has not been found to spread between humans.
Dr. Julia Rogers, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview on Tuesday that the symptoms from Alaskapox infection were generally mild.