New Delhi, Feb. 17 -- The country's top medical research body-the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)- has partnered with Hyderabad-headquartered Indian Immunological Ltd to develop the country's first monkey fever vaccine.

Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), commonly known as monkey fever, is a vector-borne haemorrhagic fever transmitted by ticks from infected monkeys to people. It has no cure.

Work on the country's first indigenously developed monkey fever vaccine follows the spread of the disease from Karnataka's Kyasanur forest to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Maharashtra.

ICMR initiated the work after a request from the Karnataka government.

"India is developing the vaccine for Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)," said Dr Rajiv Bahl, ...