A case of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a viral disease transmitted to humans through a species of ticks usually found on monkeys, has been reported from the Aranappara hamlet at Appapara, near Tirunelly, in Wayanad district after an interval of two years.
The 36-year-old patient, who is at the District Hospital, Mananthavady, is reportedly out of critical condition. The samples collected from the patient were sent to the Manipal Centre for Virus Research and it had been confirmed as a case of KFD, District Medical Officer R. Renuka told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old from the area was referred to the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, with symptoms of the disease. They were working in a farm at Bairakuppa in Karnataka and admitted to the District Hospital on January 20 with symptoms of the disease, Dr. Renuka said.
Surveillance have been stepped up in forest areas on the Wayanad- Karnataka border, district surveillance officer Noona Marja said.
Meanwhile, the district administration, in association with the Health Department, has intensified preventive measures, including a vaccination drive, to combat KFD.
Medicine stock
“Though we have stocked 350 doses of KFD vaccine, the drive is facing a setback in villages on the fringes of forests as many are not ready to accept vaccination,” Dr. Noona Marja said.
“However, we advised them to use personal protection measures, including gloves and gumboots as well as repellent lotions, before they enter forest.” The first case of the disease was reported in the district in 2013. The virus wreaked havoc in the district in 2015 when 102 cases were reported and 11 persons died of the disease. Nine cases were reported in 2016.
Though two suspected cases were reported in 2017, not a single case was reported last year, Dr. Renuka said.
Forest personnel have been asked to collect details of unnatural deaths of monkeys in areas where the outbreak of the disease had been reported earlier.
