Fairbanks woman was recently diagnosed with the second known case of 'Alaskapox'

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2020/10/01/a-fairbanks-woman-was-recently-diagnosed-with-the-second-known-case-of-alaskapox/

Fairbanks woman was recently diagnosed with the second known case of ‘Alaskapox’

Author: Annie Berman
Updated: 1 day ago Published 1 day ago

In August, a Fairbanks resident visited her doctor’s office with a mysterious gray lesion on her left upper arm, along with shoulder pain, fatigue and a fever.

According to a report issued by the state Wednesday, this woman was later diagnosed with the second-ever known case of a new species of a double-stranded DNA virus called “Alaskapox," which comes from the same genus as smallpox.

While very little is known about Alaskapox at this point, it is encouraging to see that the only two known cases were relatively mild, meaning they did not involve hospitalizations or aggressive medical treatment, according to Eric Mooring. Mooring is a lieutenant in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who works for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a disease detective in Alaska, and is the lead epidemiology investigator on this case.

Evidence of human-to-human transmission is nonexistent, which is also a good sign, Mooring said.