This story is from April 29, 2019

Kozhikode: Kyasanur Forest Disease claims one life in Wayanad

The Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or monkey fever has claimed one more life in Wayanad, taking the death toll due to the tick-borne viral haemorrhagic fever so far this year in the district to two.
Kozhikode: Kyasanur Forest Disease claims one life in Wayanad
KOZHIKODE: The Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or monkey fever has claimed one more life in Wayanad in Kerala, taking the death toll due to the tick-borne viral haemorrhagic fever so far this year in the district to two.
The deceased has been identified as Sudheesh, 23, a native of Appapara near Thirunelli. According to health department officials, Sudheesh has been living with family near Bairakuppa in Karnataka after his marriage and he was bought to the district hospital at Mananthavady in a serious condition on Sunday.
"The patient was brought to the hospital in a serious condition on Sunday and he died within two hours.
We have come to know that he had undergone treatment for fever at Virajpet and HD Kote in Karnataka before he was brought to the district hospital," Wayanad district medical officer (DMO) Dr R Renuka said.
It is suspected that the deceased had contracted the disease from Bairakuppa, which is a KFD hotspot in the current outbreak.
Sundaran, 27, a resident of the Begur tribal hamlet in Wayanad, had died on March 23, marking the first KFD death in the state after 2015. There have been six confirmed cases of KFD in the district so far this year, including one case from Karnataka .
Dr Renuka said that it is a matter of concern that most of the cases were being reported from among people near the Appappara area who had gone for work as daily labour or for frequent visits to border villages of Karnataka.

She said that as many as 1231 persons have been provided KFD vaccination in the district, including 986 persons from Appappara and Begur areas.
The department has also intensified disease surveillance and precautionary steps including dusting with insecticides in areas where monkey deaths have been reported
Wayanad had witnessed KFD cases for four years in a row from 2013 onwards till 2016 and the disease had claimed 11 lives in its largest outbreak in the state in 2015.
KFD is transmitted primarily through bites of infected ticks (Heamaphysalis spinigera). The KFD outbreaks coincides with high nymphal activity of Haemaphysalis spinigera ticks- the main vector of the disease, during the dry months from January to May.
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About the Author
K R Rajeev

Rajeev is the Special Correspondent with The Times of India in Kozhikode. He has 10 years’ experience in journalism. He was with The New Indian Express and with the information department at Ras-al-Khaimah before joining TOI. He handles the education and the politics beat.

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