Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also referred to as monkey fever, has infected as many as 35 people in Goa, a…
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Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), also referred to as monkey fever, has infected as many as 35 people in Goa, a health official said.
35 people have tested positive for the fever which had claimed three lives in the coastal state’s remote Sattari taluka of North Goa district in 2016, and one in 2015.
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In the year 2017, more than 70 people were infected by the fever.
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All the 35 people are also from the Sattari taluka and have been provided treatment for the viral infection, an official at the Valpoi community health centre (CHC) said.
“No death has been reported from KFD so far this year,” he told PTI.
“Most of the positive cases have been found in the Sanvorderm panchayat area of Sattari. The health department has intensified its vaccination drive and distributed tick repellent oils in the villages there,” he said.
KFD, referred to as Makad Taap in local language, is a tick-borne viral hemorrhagic fever endemic to South Asia. The virus is transmitted to human beings through parasitic ticks which latch on to monkeys.
The KFD infection, which starts with high fever and bodyache, results in hemorrhage, similar to that in dengue.
People already suffering from kidney, heart and liver related issues are more vulnerable to KFD infection.
(With agency inputs)
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