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Author affiliation: Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
The emerging borealpox virus causes zoonotic borealpox disease, characterized by dermal lesions, in humans. From the Latin adjective borealis, which refers to Boreas (βορέας), the Greek god of the north wind, boreal has indicated northern origin since the 15th Century.
The orthopoxvirus isolate AK2015_poxvirus was isolated from a resident of Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, in 2015, and initially dubbed Alaskapox virus after complete genome sequence analysis revealed a novel species similar to Old World orthopoxviruses. Seven human cases, including 1 fatal case, preceded renaming to borealpox virus. Boreal references the taiga, a subarctic coniferous forest ecosystem where case-patients and likely small mammal virus reservoirs resided.
