Kalpetta: After the Nipah virus (NiV) of last year followed by the deadly leptospirosis outbreaks, two cases of Kyasanur Forest Disease, commonly called monkey fever, have been reported from northern Kerala.
Wayanad District Emergency Operation Centre confirmed here on Wednesday that a 35-year-old man from Athattukunnu colony, near Aranappara was admitted at Manathavady district hospital.
Another 27-year-old man from Thonikkadavu colony near Bavali, who was shifted to Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode after showing similar symptoms, was also confirmed to have contracted the disease.
Though the hamlets of both the men are at a distance of 10 km to 15 km, they fall under the primary health centre limit of Appappara, Thirunelli.
Both are suspected to have contracted the disease from villages in Karnataka.
Health officials are trying to confirm whether they contracted the disease from a common point.
They fear that if the two men did not contract the disease from the same point, the situation could be more vulnerable due to the vast forest area in the district.
The district medical officer has been directed to immediately identify the source epidemic point, and ensure surveillance of all who were with the patients at the source epidemic point. The DMO should also add any other suspected area to be considered vulnerable, as found by the field operational staff from other departments.
The wildlife warden and north Wayanad divisional forest officer have been asked to instruct the field officers in the region to exercise extra alert.
They should be alerted to wear personal protection gear while dealing with any affected monkey or corpse of monkeys.
The tribal development officers from Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery have been directed to ensure surveillance in tribal hamlets within the vulnerable areas, in coordination with the DMO.
Outbreak in Shivamogga
Following the the outbreak of KFD in Shivamogga district in Karnataka earlier this month, Wayanad district collector A Ajayakumar had announced a disease prevention and surveillance protocol due to the prevalence of the disease here.
In 2015, 102 cases were reported from Wayanad and 11 died. The first reported outbreak in the district was in 2013. Only a single case was reported then.
How the virus spreads
Since the virus is spread through ticks that bite the infected monkeys, instructions were given to officials and public to inform monkey deaths in their localities.
In the event of death, dusting by malathion, an insecticide, has to be performed in a 50 meter radius, as dead monkeys are more likely to spread the disease.
What is Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
According to scholarly articles, Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) was first recognised in Shivamogga. The causative agent, KFD virus (KFDV) causes a haemorrhagic disease in infected human beings.
KFD has been reported from only the southern part of India. The exact cause of its emergence in the mid 1950s is not known. A variant of KFDV, Alkhurma haemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV), was recently identified in Saudi Arabia.
KFDV could be persisting silently in several regions in India.
