Wayanad(Kerala): A 48-year-old woman died and thirteen are allegedly inflicted with Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also known as ‘monkey fever’, in Wayanad district of Kerala till date. Monkey fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans through a species of ticks usually found on monkeys.
The deceased is identified as Meenakshi of Narangakkunnu colony at Mananthavadi in Wayanad and this is the first death reported from the state due to monkey fever infection. The health officials suspect that the deceased might have got infection from monkeys in the forest regions bordering Kerala and Karnataka.
Last year, tick-borne viral haemorrhagic fever claimed two lives in the district. Monkey fever had claimed 11 lives in its largest outbreak in the state in 2015.
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The disease is caused by the Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) virus, a member of the Flaviviridae family. It is transmitted primarily through bites of infected ticks (Heamaphysalis spinigera), during the dry months from January to May.
Other members of the family include viruses that cause the yellow fever and dengue.
The KFD virus was first identified in the Kyasanur forest of the Shivamogga district (then known as Shimoga) in March 1957. The outbreak saw several primates dying, thus leading the disease to be called ‘monkey fever’.
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