31 cases of monkey fever reported in Uttara Kannada district

Thirty-one cases of monkey fever have been reported from Uttara Kannada district in the last 15 days, health officials said on Friday.

Among those infected, 12 patients are admitted in hospitals while the rest are being treated at home. All of them are stable, and no serious case has been reported so far, they said. Most of the cases were reported from Siddapur taluk.

The first case of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also known as monkey fever, was reported on January 16, officials said.

According to officials, monkey fever spreads due to the bites of ticks that generally survive on monkeys. This tick bites humans which causes the infection. Humans also contract the disease by coming in contact with cattles bitten by ticks.

The authorities are carrying out door-to-door awareness programmes about the precautions to be taken. Those living in and around the forest area need to be more careful as they are at high risk of contracting this disease, they said.

Uttara Kannada District Health Officer Dr. Neeraj B, said: “Once you contract monkey fever, you develop symptoms in the next three to five days which could be high fever, severe body ache, headache, redness of eyes, cold and cough”.

“As on Friday, we have 31 cases of monkey fever in the district. 12 people are admitted to hospitals. All of them are stable and so far, we have not witnessed any serious cases. All precautions are being taken. Our medical officers and field staff have done multiple meetings at the Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat level. All our taluk and district hospitals are equipped with staff and facilities to deal with such cases,” he told PTI.

Forest officials have also been roped in for creating awareness among people about the precautions to be taken, it was stated.