Two senior officers of Department of Health and Family Welfare – B.C. Venkatesh, District Health Officer (DHO) of Shivamogga, and Ravi Kumar, Deputy Director of Viral Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL), Shivamogga, – have been placed under suspension for their alleged negligence in tackling the outbreak of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also known as monkey fever.
In the suspension order, Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Commissioner of Department of Health and Family Welfare, said both officers had failed to take precautions to prevent the outbreak of the disease and to tackle it, resulting in loss of human lives. Considering their failure as dereliction of duty, both officers have been suspended by invoking Karnataka Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957.
The commissioner has also posted Rajesh Suragihalli who was serving as DHO of Kodagu as DHO of Shivamogga.
At VDL, Shivamogga, the blood samples of patients suffering from symptoms of KFD from Shivamogga, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru districts are being tested.
Residents’ complaints
It may be mentioned here that residents in areas affected with KFD had expressed displeasure that though equipment necessary to conduct reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) tests – considered to be a precise method of testing blood samples – was provided to VDL, there was a delay in commencement of the service owing to the negligence of the officials there.
