Vol. 11, Special Issue 10 (2022)

Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a re-emerging tick-borne zoonotic hemorrhagic disease in humans caused by the Kyasanur forest disease virus. It is also known as monkey sickness or monkey fever because of its association with monkeys. The virus belongs to the Flaviviridae family, genus Flavivirus. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected hard tick, Haemaphysalis spinigera, acting as a vector. KFD results in high-grade fever, frontal headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and neurological and hemorrhagic symptoms have been reported in some cases. KFDV was first isolated in 1957 in the Shimoga District of Karnataka. KFDV is currently spreading to new regions in the Western Ghats and is endemic to many areas of India, namely Goa, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Kerala. Diagnosis can be made by collecting human blood samples, monkey guts, and ticks from the endemic regions. Samples are either tested for antigen during acute infection using real-time RT-PCR, or chronic cases are detected using IgM ELISA methods. Prevention and control of the disease can be done by monitoring human, monkey, and tick populations. The present review focuses on the different aspects of the disease, such as etiology, transmission, epidemiology, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and various prevention and control strategies.