Bengaluru: The numbers of cases of Monkey fever is rising in Karnataka. The Karnataka Health department has confirmed that the active cases of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also known as monkey fever have touch 100-mark, while two fatalities have been reported.
As per official reports, the total cases stand at approximately 200, with the majority clustered in three districts including Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, and Chikkamagaluru.
Following the rise in number, a high-level meeting was convened in the state on February 19th to strategize on addressing the issue.
In view of the rise in positive cases of Monkey fever, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told to news agency ANI, “We just had a meeting with all the elected representatives and officers to see that we are well prepared and further deaths don’t take place. We should be able to bring it under control.”
It is worth mentioning here that Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) is a zoonotic infection transmitted by ticks primarily found in animals, specifically primates. The disease was identified for the first time in Karnataka’s forest regions in the 1950s and has since recurred periodically due to the close interaction between humans and animals in these areas.
As per medical reports, the disease is caused by the Kyasanur Forest Disease virus (KFDV), belonging to the Flaviviridae family, and was first isolated in 1957 from a sick monkey in the Kyasanur Forest. This disease is transmitted to humans mainly occurs through tick bites or contact with infected animals.
So far, there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus.
Ms Kalinga