Alaska Public Media: The world's first person died from the new Alaskapox virus in the USA
The first person in the world died from the new Alaskapox virus (AKPV) on the Kenai Peninsula in the United States. Writes about this Alaska Public Media citing the Alaska Department of Health.
The department announced the death of a man with a weakened immune system due to cancer treatment on Friday, February 9. He lived alone in a forested area and was in contact with a stray cat, which he said regularly scratched him and preyed on small mammals. The animal tested negative for AKPV.
The Alaskapox virus was discovered in the state in 2015, and its symptoms are similar to those of smallpox. According to epidemiologist Dr. Julia Rogers, animals are primarily infected with the virus. She expects cases of AKPV infection to be rare and deaths from it in immunocompromised people are unlikely. At the same time, Rogers emphasized that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus.
Related materials:
Alaskan smallpox infections were confirmed in only six people, all of them were recorded in the Fairbanks area. All of them occurred as a result of contact with animals. Small mammals have been tested for the presence of AKPV and found mainly in red-backed voles and squirrels. Because there are so few cases, epidemiologists don't know exactly how people can become infected with the virus. Rogers believes the virus is most likely transmitted through direct contact with an infected animal.
Earlier it was reported that a wolf that attacked four people in the Kurgan region was suspected of having a zombie virus. The zombie virus was first discovered in the US state of Colorado; the infection got its name due to the loss of orientation in sick deer. This virus triggers destructive processes in the brain.
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