Kerala: Woman dies of monkey fever in Wayanad

KOZHIKODE: Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or monkey fever has claimed one life in Wayanad, with a 48-year-old woman succumbing to the disease at the Kozhikode government medical college on Sunday.
This is the first KFD death in the state this year.
The deceased Meenakshi, a tribal woman, hailing from Narangakunnu Colony at Kattikulam near the Kerala-Karnataka border was admitted to the Mananthavady district hospital on March 4 with symptoms of the disease and was shifted to the medical college on March 6.
Three other people who tested positive for KFD are currently under treatment, with two persons admitted to Kozhikode medical college and one person at the Mananthavady district hospital.
Wayanad DMO Dr R Renuka said that the condition of the three patients was stable. There have been 13 positive cases so far this year and nine patients were discharged after recovery.
The department has stepped up surveillance and preventive measures in view of the KFD season, normally coinciding with the summer months, but those in high-risk categories are reluctant to get vaccinated, the DMO said. All the reported cases this year was from the Thirunelly panchayat which is surrounded by forests, she added.
Health department authorities said that people living on forest fringes and those venturing into forests for livelihood like collection of minor forest produce, wood, etc, have been directed to get themselves vaccinated.
Applying insect repellent ointments, using anti-tick lotions on domestic animals grazing in forest areas are some precautionary measures. Forest department staff too have been directed to take KFD vaccination.
How KFD is trasmitted
KFD is transmitted primarily through bites of infected ticks (Heamaphysalis spinigera). The KFD outbreaks coincide with high nymphal activity of Haemaphysalis spinigera ticks — the main vector of the disease — during January to May. Monkeys acquire infection through infected tick bites and act as amplifying hosts with the virus getting transmitted to other ticks on monkeys. Also, when an infected monkey dies, ticks drop off from its body, thereby generating hotspots of infected ticks.
Symptoms
The symptoms of the disease include sudden onset of fever, headache and generalized body pain. Also in the early phase of illness, gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea can also occur.