While the Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) or monkey fever, a tick-borne zoonotic disease, is posing a serious threat to public life on the fringes of the forest area in the district, a group of veterinary experts performed an autopsy on the carcass of a bonnet macaque at Onnam Mile near Kattikulam in the district on Wednesday.
The veterinary experts, led by Dileep Falgunan, District Veterinary Epidemiologist and Jawahar, veterinary surgeon, Veterinary Hospital, Kattikulam, performed the autopsy on the 14-year-old male bonnet macaque that collapsed from a tree near the house of a farmer adjacent to the Begur forest range under the North Wayanad forest division.
Dr. Dileep told The Hindu after the autopsy that they had been observing the primate in the area for the past three days and the animal was too weak. They would hand over the collected samples to the Health Department and it would send them to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Since KFD is a tick-borne viral infection that spreads from monkeys to humans, the forest department officials were asked to report the sighting of primates in a critical state or their carcasses in Thirunelly grama panchayat, he said.
Vector control
The vector control unit of the Health Department collected ticks from the area to identify the presence of the virus causing the disease. The sample would also be sent to the NIV for testing.
“As many as 16 tick samples collected from the areas where monkey deaths were reported this year were sent to NIV, Pune, for further analysis, but, we are yet to get any positive ressults”, district surveillance officer Noona Marja said.
The ticks sample would also sent to the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University for identifying the species, Dr. Dileep said.
Meanwhile, a door-to-door campaign launched by the Health Department, in association with the Forest Department and the local body, at Thirunelly grama panchayat to sensitise the public to the significance of vaccination against KFD entered the second day.
