First fatal case of Alaskapox, a newly identified viral disease.

The State of Alaska Department of Health reports the first known fatal infection of Alaskapox, a viral infection that led to the death of a Kenai Peninsula man in January 2024. The man had been hospitalized due to a painful lesion in his shoulder area. Before his death, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of Alaskapox in the man, a virus first discovered in a woman over eight years ago. Aside from being the first fatal human case, it is the documented first human infection outside of the Fairbanks area, indicating that the virus, which is known to be harbored by small mammals, has spread beyond the wildlife populations in that Interior community.

February 10, 2024
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