The patient’s death, experts say, indicates that the rare virus has spread beyond the wildlife population.
A man living in a remote area of Alaska dies from a newly discovered viral disease. The American newspaper USA TODAY writes about this on Tuesday, February 13.
“Last week, a bulletin was received from Alaska health officials indicating that an elderly man living on the Kenai Peninsula died after being hospitalized for a burning rash. Doctors identified a type of smallpox known as Alaskapox pox (AKPV),” the report said.
According to the department, the man died at the end of January. The deceased lives alone in a forest and regularly interacts with a wild cat. He had a weak immune system, which experts believe contributed to his death from the virus.
This indicated that the virus had something in common with monkeypox. The disease is carried by small mammals, including red-backed voles.
“Since 2015, there have been at least seven reported cases of the virus, all in Alaska,” the newspaper said.
As the journalists write, none of the people infected with the virus have traveled outside the United States.
“AKPV was first discovered in a person living near Fairbanks in 2015, and the next human case appeared in 2020. Two more patients reported being diagnosed with it in 2021, and then one person became ill. of it in 2022. A sixth case was confirmed last year,” Alaska health officials said in a bulletin.
Experts noted that the virus is still considered not to pose a threat to human life.
Earlier it was reported that an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu was registered in the Kirovograd region. Based on the research results, an RNA virus of avian influenza type A, subtype H5N1, was detected, and the diagnosis was also confirmed.
Last year, China recorded the world’s first human death from bird flu.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.