Alaskapox is a virus belonging to the Orthopox virus family. The most notorious of this group of viruses - which also include cowpox and monkeypox - is smallpox, say experts, which has now been eradicated.
As health officials in the US state of Alaska confirm the first known death linked to a recently discovered virus called Alaskapox, doctors believe the elderly man, who became the first casualty, could have contracted the infection from a stray cat.
An elderly man from the US has become the first recorded patient to die from Alaskapox - a virus that is closely related to smallpox. Since 2015, only seven cases of the infection have been reported. Scientists first observed the virus in Fairbanks, Alaska.