With a dozen of monkey disease cases reported in Waynad, which lies along the inter-State border, the Tamil Nadu Public Health Department has stepped up vigil to prevent transmission.
Formally called as Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), it’s a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever that was first reported from Kyasanur Forest of Karnataka, and hence the name. It can be fatal for humans if left untreated.
According to health officials, in the past few months, nearly 100 cases were reported in the border-lying districts of Kerala. While no case has been reported in Tamil Nadu so far, the Health Department was taking no chances.
Public Health officials said that vaccinations were administered in Erode and Ooty to high-risk groups such as tribal communities who venture into forests for wood and the health staff near forest areas.
Despite its name, a health official said that the virus can be transmitted to humans through rat and squirrel bites as well.
The State Government has directed all major hospitals to gear up to treat KFD cases, said A. Edwin Joe, Dean of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
While no case had been reported in this side of the border, he said that CMCH had already prepared to set up an ‘isolation chamber’ along the lines of the H1N1 wards.
“A special briefing on the disease, its symptoms, and its treatment was given to the professors of Medicine Department. Since we are a tertiary care, the CMCH is not involved in disease prevention but only treatment,” the Dean added. The KFD can prove fatal for vulnerable people besides people of extreme age, Dr. Joe said.
(Reporting by
R. Sairam)
