Kyasanur Forest disease

Many Indian states have had high alerts issued by the Indian Council for Medical Research due to the unusual amount of Kyasanur Forest disease (or monkey fever) cases. In Maharashrta (a state) there were at least 125 positive monkey fever cases, there has also been at least 7 deaths attributed to it.

Kyasanur Forest Disease was first recognized as a febrile illness in Karntaka. The agent that causes the disease is the Kyasanur Forest disease virus, which is in the Flaviviridae family. Kyasanur forest disease is a zoonotic disease that is transmitted through ticks, especially at the nymphal stage. The virus also circulates in small animals like rodents and birds. They have also not been able to identify person to person transmission.

They found that the disease spread as monkeys migrate from one regions to another. Originally the Kyasanur Forest disease virus was first isolated from sick monkeys in the Kyasanur forest, namely the black faced langur and the red-faced bonnet monkey. These are two very common monkeys in the forest.

The disease is usually characterized by febrile, and sometimes fatal disease, which runs in a biphasic course. Relative bradycardia and conjunctivitis is frequently seen. It is mostly prevalent between March and May.

- Gianna Nino-Tapias (’18)

References:
- http://www.deccanherald.com/content/579261/high-alert-over-monkey-fever.html
- Pattnaik, P. Kyasanur forest disease: an epidemiological view in india. Reviews in Medical Virology (2006). 151-165.