A ProMED-mail post
Date: Wed 28 Nov 2012
Source: Daily News and Analysis, India [edited]
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_monkey-fever-outbreak-suspected-at-bandipur-reserve_1770767
Veterinary experts suspect an outbreak of Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD), popularly known as monkey fever, in the Maddur range of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, bordering Mysore district. It is also reported to have affected humans.
The tiger reserve authorities have reported the deaths of 8 bonnet macaques [_Macaca radiata_] and 2 common langurs [_Semnopithecus entellus_], and it has been transmitted to 5 workers of the forest department's anti-poaching camp. The workers are undergoing treatment at Gundlupet government hospital, and the condition of one of them is serious.
Following the outbreak, tiger reserve officials sounded a high alert. Animal and veterinary scientists from the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals (IAHVB) in Bangalore and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune have rushed to the area for further analysis.
This fever is caused by a viral infection among primates, and the 1st to be affected were bonnet macaques and common langurs. These primates usually move through the trees about 30-50 feet above the ground. When they eventually touch the ground due to various factors, particularly during the cutting of forests, they transmit the virus through ticks on their bodies to rodents, shrews, and reptiles. This usually happens when forests are cut for building roads, among other things. The ticks from infected monkeys get transferred to various domestic animals, including cattle, and then to humans.
The disease was 1st detected in Shimoga district in 1957 and has been appearing every now and then in the thickly wooded areas of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, and Chamarajanagar and has affected humans too.
According to tiger reserve officials, NH 212, passing through the reserve, was one clearing where the monkeys have to touch the ground to cross the road. They said that the anti-poaching camp was also situated just next to the highway, where 5 persons became infected.
An expert team from the health department of Shimoga district has rushed to the area and begun spreading awareness about the infection.
[Byline: M. Raghuram]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[This posting reports human and monkey cases of KFD in a different locale of Karnataka state. Previously, there have been human KFD cases in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state this year (2012), and in 2011, and 2009.
In the 28 Feb 2009 post on KFD in India (ProMED-mail archive number 20090302.0860), Mod.CP posted the following excellent commentary:
"Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is caused by Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV), a member of the family _Flaviviridae_. KFDV was identified in 1957 when it was isolated from a sick monkey from the Kyasanur forest in Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, India. The main hosts of KFDV are small rodents, but shrews, bats, and monkeys may also carry the virus. KFD is transmitted from the bite of an infected tick (_Haemaphysalis spinigera_ is the major vector). Humans can get this disease from a tick bite or by contact with an infected animal, such as a sick or recently dead monkey. Larger animals such as goats, cows, and sheep may become infected with KFD, but they do not have a role in the transmission of the disease. Furthermore, there is no evidence of the disease being transmitted via the unpasteurized milk of any of these animals. It occurs principally in the Shimoga and Kanara district of Karnataka, India and is common in young adults exposed during the dry season in the forest.
After an incubation period of 3-8 days, the symptoms of KFD begin suddenly with fever, headache, severe muscle pain, cough, dehydration, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems. Patients may experience abnormally low blood pressure and low platelet, red blood cell, and white blood cell counts. After 1-2 weeks of symptoms, some patients recover without complications. However, in most patients, the illness is biphasic, and the patient begins experiencing a 2nd wave of symptoms at the beginning of the 3rd week. These symptoms include fever and signs of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The diagnosis is made by virus isolation from blood or by serologic testing using enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay. There are approximately 400-500 cases of KFD per year with a case fatality rate of 3-5 percent."
Source: Daily News and Analysis, India [edited]
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_monkey-fever-outbreak-suspected-at-bandipur-reserve_1770767
Veterinary experts suspect an outbreak of Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD), popularly known as monkey fever, in the Maddur range of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, bordering Mysore district. It is also reported to have affected humans.
The tiger reserve authorities have reported the deaths of 8 bonnet macaques [_Macaca radiata_] and 2 common langurs [_Semnopithecus entellus_], and it has been transmitted to 5 workers of the forest department's anti-poaching camp. The workers are undergoing treatment at Gundlupet government hospital, and the condition of one of them is serious.
Following the outbreak, tiger reserve officials sounded a high alert. Animal and veterinary scientists from the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals (IAHVB) in Bangalore and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune have rushed to the area for further analysis.
This fever is caused by a viral infection among primates, and the 1st to be affected were bonnet macaques and common langurs. These primates usually move through the trees about 30-50 feet above the ground. When they eventually touch the ground due to various factors, particularly during the cutting of forests, they transmit the virus through ticks on their bodies to rodents, shrews, and reptiles. This usually happens when forests are cut for building roads, among other things. The ticks from infected monkeys get transferred to various domestic animals, including cattle, and then to humans.
The disease was 1st detected in Shimoga district in 1957 and has been appearing every now and then in the thickly wooded areas of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Shimoga, and Chamarajanagar and has affected humans too.
According to tiger reserve officials, NH 212, passing through the reserve, was one clearing where the monkeys have to touch the ground to cross the road. They said that the anti-poaching camp was also situated just next to the highway, where 5 persons became infected.
An expert team from the health department of Shimoga district has rushed to the area and begun spreading awareness about the infection.
[Byline: M. Raghuram]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[This posting reports human and monkey cases of KFD in a different locale of Karnataka state. Previously, there have been human KFD cases in the Shimoga district of Karnataka state this year (2012), and in 2011, and 2009.
In the 28 Feb 2009 post on KFD in India (ProMED-mail archive number 20090302.0860), Mod.CP posted the following excellent commentary:
"Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is caused by Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV), a member of the family _Flaviviridae_. KFDV was identified in 1957 when it was isolated from a sick monkey from the Kyasanur forest in Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, India. The main hosts of KFDV are small rodents, but shrews, bats, and monkeys may also carry the virus. KFD is transmitted from the bite of an infected tick (_Haemaphysalis spinigera_ is the major vector). Humans can get this disease from a tick bite or by contact with an infected animal, such as a sick or recently dead monkey. Larger animals such as goats, cows, and sheep may become infected with KFD, but they do not have a role in the transmission of the disease. Furthermore, there is no evidence of the disease being transmitted via the unpasteurized milk of any of these animals. It occurs principally in the Shimoga and Kanara district of Karnataka, India and is common in young adults exposed during the dry season in the forest.
After an incubation period of 3-8 days, the symptoms of KFD begin suddenly with fever, headache, severe muscle pain, cough, dehydration, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems. Patients may experience abnormally low blood pressure and low platelet, red blood cell, and white blood cell counts. After 1-2 weeks of symptoms, some patients recover without complications. However, in most patients, the illness is biphasic, and the patient begins experiencing a 2nd wave of symptoms at the beginning of the 3rd week. These symptoms include fever and signs of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). The diagnosis is made by virus isolation from blood or by serologic testing using enzyme-linked immunosorbent serologic assay. There are approximately 400-500 cases of KFD per year with a case fatality rate of 3-5 percent."
