Monkeypox arrives in Alaska with Anchorage man as state’s first patient

Alaska has recorded its first case of monkeypox, the viral disease that is currently causing a global epidemic.

An Anchorage man has tested positive for the disease and is isolating at home, the Alaska Department of Health and Anchorage Health Department said in a joint statement Friday.

The patient had not traveled recently but was a close contact of someone who did travel outside of Alaska, the departments said.

There had been 4,907 cases in the United States and over 21,000 cases worldwide as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Detection of the Alaska case leaves only three U.S. states without any identified cases as of Thursday – Vermont, Montana and Wyoming, according to the CDC.

In Canada, the federal government reports that 803 cases have been identified as of Friday, including some in regions that border Alaska. One Yukon case has been reported, as have  61 in British Columbia, according to Canadian data.

Monkeypox, first discovered in the 1950s in captive monkeys, is caused by a virus that is in the same family as the variola virus that caused now-eradicated smallpox. While smallpox was very deadly, killing more than 300 million people in the 20th century alone, monkeypox is much milder.

However, monkeypox can be fatal, especially for children, according to the World Health Organization. In recent times, the fatality rate has been about 3% to 6%, according to the WHO.

For those infected, the incubation period lasts about a week or two, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s state epidemiologist.

The early symptoms are general and “can be a lot like flu or a cold or COVID,” McLauglin said. They include fever, headaches, muscle pain and sometimes respiratory symptoms, he said. Following those symptoms, a rash emerges, possibly concentrated in one part of the body or, in serious cases, all over the body

When people are hospitalized for monkeypox, it is usually because of that rash, he said. “The rash can be very painful.”

Generally, the illness lasts two to four weeks after the onset of initial symptoms, he said.

The Anchorage patient, a man, tested positive for monkeypox on Thursday, McLaughlin said.

Unlike SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the monkeypox virus does not spread easily, he said. Spread generally requires “close intimate contact,” such as prolonged skin-to-skin contact, though the virus can also be transmitted through objects like clothing, he said.

That limits the scope of the disease spread, McLaughlin said: “It is spreading rapidly, but it’s not spreading widely in the population.”

In the current epidemic, the vast majority of cases have been among men who have sex with other men, McLaughlin said. But he cautioned against assumptions that the disease will be limited to that part of the population. While it’s important that people understand that monkeypox is not as easy to get as COVID-19, “it’s also very important to relay that this is not just a disease that affects men. It affects women. It affects children,” he said.

People with compromised immune systems are at elevated risk, he said.

Testing for monkeypox is available in Alaska and there is a limited supply of a vaccine, the state and municipal health departments’ joint statement said. State epidemiologists are trying to identify anyone who might have been exposed to monkeypox in Alaska, the statement said. Any people who are identified as close contacts will be contacted and offered the vaccine, the statement said.

The type of vaccine available in Alaska is called JYNNEOS and is one of two vaccines used to prevent the spread of monkeypox.