A monkey that died at Konot, near Karanthur, in the district on Wednesday has tested negative for Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), popularly known as Monkey Fever, putting to rest fears of a possible outbreak of the disease.
The monkey tested negative during a detailed examination, Arun Zachariah of the Wildlife Disease Research Lab in Wayanad, who conducted the post-mortem examination, said.
After the initial investigation showed no signs of KFD, the blood samples of the monkey were subjected to a detailed investigation at the lab on Thursday.
Dr. Zachariah said the monkey died of pneumonia, not KFD.
Blood samplesThe district veterinary authorities, however, have decided to collect blood samples of more monkeys in the Thurayil Kavu Bhagavathi Temple area near Karanthur to rule out KFD.
“We need to examine blood samples of more monkeys from the area since the residents had found a few monkeys in a bad shape recently,” K. Madhavan, District Veterinary Officer, said.
He said a request had been made to District Collector C.A. Latha to direct the forest authorities to make arrangements for collecting the blood samples of monkeys for investigation.
“The monkeys have to be tranquillised to collect the blood samples, for which we need the assistance of the forest officials,” Dr. Madhavan said.
DirectionsMs. Latha told The Hindu that the District Forest Officer concerned had been given directions to make the necessary arrangements to help the veterinary authorities collect the blood samples.
“We will get a definitive picture once more samples are examined,” she said.
