Alaskapox: What is the viral disease that killed an elderly man?
An elderly man from Alaska has become the first person to die after contracting Alaskapox – a recently discovered viral disease.
But how dangerous is Alaskapox, how many people have caught it and what are the symptoms? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is it?
Alaskapox, or AKPV, is a double-stranded DNA virus with officials saying it appears to be zoonotic, primarily circulating across Alaska’s state mammals with occasional transmission to humans.
It’s a type of bug known as an orthopoxvirus. The most well-known variation of this type of virus is smallpox. There’s also camelpox, cowpox, horsepox and mpox – formerly known as monkeypox.
When was it discovered and how many people have had it?
It was discovered in 2015 in a woman who lived near Fairbanks, Alaska, hence the name Alaskapox. She was diagnosed after she began suffering from a localised rash and swollen lymph nodes.
It has mainly been found in small mammals, including red-backed voles and shrews, but health officials say household pets may also carry the virus.
Seven people, all in Alaska, have been infected with it in the last nine years.
The latest known case was the elderly man from Kenai Peninsula, to the south of the state, who health officials say was undergoing treatment in hospital when he died in late January.
The man was from the Kenai Peninsula, in the south of Alaska. Pic: iStock
How does it spread?
Officials believe it’s through contact with infected animals.
There has been no documented case of it spreading from one person to another. But other viruses in the same family can spread when one person comes in contact with another person’s lesions, so Alaska health officials are advising anyone with an Alaskapox lesion to cover it with a bandage.
Officials said it was “unclear” how the man who died was exposed to the virus – although he had reported caring for a stray cat at his home which had scratched him, possibly causing the transmission.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms have included one or more bumps or pustules on the skin, as well as joint or muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes.
Nearly all patients had mild illnesses that resolved on their own after a few weeks without the need for treatment.
An Alaskapox lesion photographed over a four-week period. Pic: AP/Alaska Department of Health
The man who died in January was being treated for cancer and had a suppressed immune system because of the drugs, which the Alaskan health department said likely contributed to the severity of his illness.
He spotted a red bump in his armpit in September and was given antibiotics, however his symptoms worsened as he experienced fatigue and increased pain in the area and shoulder.
After his right arm’s range of motion was impacted, the man was transferred to a hospital in Anchorage where he reported further symptoms including pox-like lesions, the case report said.
An “extensive battery” of tests were performed and showed a positive result for cowpox.
While his condition improved one week into the therapy, he would soon suffer from delayed wound healing, respiratory and kidney failure, resulting in his death.
The man began to improve about a week after treatment with intravenous medications but died in late January after experiencing kidney failure and other systemic declines, according to officials.
Could this spread beyond Alaska?
Officials have yet to comment on the possibility of the virus spreading to other regions.
As we said before, all seven cases detected so far have been in Alaska, and six of those have occurred in people living in the same borough: Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB).
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The latest case, however, was found in the elderly man living in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which is 370 miles from FNSB, according to Google Maps.
A statement from the Alaska Division of Public Health explains how prevalent the virus could be throughout the US state: “While animal trapping studies have confirmed the presence of the virus in small mammals in FNSB, it is likely that the virus is present more broadly in Alaska’s small mammals and that more infections in humans have occurred but were not identified.
“More animal testing is occurring to better understand the distribution of the virus in animal populations throughout Alaska.”
How to protect yourself and pets once the virus is caught
Officials say the best ways to keep pets and family members safe is to keep a safe distance and wash your hands after being outdoors. It also advises avoiding keeping wildlife as pets.
Any lesions that are found should be covered, kept dry and not touched, they add.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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