THE COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the devastating impact of a zoonotic disease. While the way to avert such pandemics is to break the chain of transmission from wildlife to humans, such efforts do not always receive due attention nor are implemented with scientific rigour. One such zoonotic illness where spillover events appear to have increased, resulting in recurring outbreaks, is Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) or monkey fever. The illness, named after Kyasanur forest in the Western Ghats, where it originated, is a haemorrhagic fever borne by the tick, Haemaphysalis spinigera. It has a fatality rate of 3-5 per cent. Researchers believe that the disease was for centuries endemic to the forests of the Western Ghats, circulating silently among primates and ticks. It was first identified in 1957 after an outbreak in a Kyasanur forest village in Shivamogga district of Karnataka. Though outbreaks have remained largely confined to the area, the disease in the past few decades has begun to spread to other states, with Tamil Nadu and Kerala reporting KFD for the first time in 2013, followed by Goa in 2015 and Maharashtra in 2016. Today, India records 400-500 cases a year, as per a 2019 study published in the journal GeoHealth. What's worrying is that an article published in Reviews in Medical Virology in 2006 highlighted rising cases of KFD in Karnataka from January 1999 through January 2005, despite routine vaccination.
Denne historien er fra April 01, 2023-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 01, 2023-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.