One more dies of monkey fever in K'taka; toll rises to four

Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Feb 26 (IANS) An aged woman died of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), known as monkey fever, in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, taking the death toll due to the disease to four in the state.

The deceased is a 60-year-old woman from Koorlakai village in Siddapur taluk. The victim was being treated for three days at Meggan Hospital in Shivamogga and succumbed on Sunday night.

She was diagnosed with monkey fever 20 days ago and was suffering from symptoms of high fever. In Siddapur taluk alone, the number of monkey fever cases has risen to 43.

The state, which has 103 active monkey fever cases, had recorded three deaths so far, one each in Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga districts.

State Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had recently held a high-level meeting with legislators and officers of three districts of the state where the outbreak of the disease has raised concern.

The state government has held talks with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for effective vaccination and authorities are hopeful of getting the vaccine sooner.

The awareness programme is also being undertaken in the regions where the disease has been detected.

Monkey fever is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic disease which can be fatal to humans and other primates. The symptoms of KFD begin suddenly with chills, fever, and headache. Severe muscle pain with vomiting, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems may occur three-four days after onset of initial symptom.