TRIGGER MONKEY PARK PLAN

ROW OVER MONKEY PARK PLAN 

Environmentalists have opposed the Karnataka government’s plan to set up a monkey park on the uninhabited islands in the Sharavathi backwater region

Initially, it was planned to set up the park on 150 acres of government land near Nagodi village in Nittur gram paanchayat limits in Hosanagar taluk

Fearing that the project may trigger outbreaks of diseases like the Kyasanur Forest Disease, local opposed the project

Following this, the State government planned to shift the project to the uninhabited Islands in the Sharavathi river backwater region

Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic fever endemic to South-western part of India

First reported from Kyasanur Forest of Karnataka in India in March 1957

The disease is caused by a virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae

Vector for disease transmission is Haemaphysalis spinigera, a forest tick

KFDV is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected hard ticks which act as a reservoir of KFDV

Man is a terminal host and there no man to man transmission because the domestic environment cannot sustain the ticks

Variety of animals are thought to be reservoir hosts for the disease, including porcupines, rats, squirrels, mice, and shrews. Monkeys are the main amplifying hosts for KFD virus and they are also sufferers

Symptoms: High fever with frontal headaches, chills, severe muscle pain with vomiting, gastrointestinal symptoms and bleeding problems and signs of neurological manifestations, such as severe headache, mental disturbances, tremors, and vision deficits

Prevention is by vaccination, as well as preventive measures such as protective clothing and tick population control.