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.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
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Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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