A forest worker in Shivamogga district, Karnataka, develops high fever, severe retro-orbital pain and bleeding from the gums after collecting firewood. Serology confirms Kyasanur Forest Disease. Human infection in this zoonosis characteristically follows the bite of:

• A Adult male Haemaphysalis spinigera ticks
• B Nymphal stages of Haemaphysalis spinigera ticks ✓
• C Larval Leptotrombidium mites
• D Adult soft ticks of the genus Argas

Explanation

KFD is maintained in a cycle involving small mammals and monkeys with Haemaphysalis spinigera ticks as vectors. Humans entering the forest acquire infection chiefly through the bite of the unfed nymph, which quests on low vegetation at knee height; adult ticks feed higher up on cattle and large mammals and rarely bite humans. Larval Leptotrombidium mites transmit scrub typhus, not KFD.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.