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| Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive and negative" are seen in this photo taken May 23, 2022. Reuters-Yonhap |
By Ko Dong-hwan
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| Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran speaks about the country's first confirmed case of the monkeypox during a press conference at the agency's headquarters in Cheongju, Wednesday. Yonhap |
The KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said in a special press conference that a Korean national had tested positive for the disease via a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
The Korean national arrived at Incheon International Airport from Germany, Tuesday. The person reportedly suffered a headache, June 18, as well as fever, a sore throat, fatigue and skin lesions the day of arrival. He filed his medical condition with the KDCA and reported them at the airport. After being quarantined at the airport, he was moved to Incheon Medical Center.
The confirmation of Korea's first monkeypox case has prompted the KDCA to notify all local government offices in the country to prepare to launch an emergency quarantine task force. The authority will also intensify monitoring of arrivals from countries where the disease has been reported.
Peck urged the public to call the KDCA hotline (call 1339) if they see symptoms within 21 days of having arrived in the country.
Another person suspected of carrying the disease ― a foreign national ― arrived in Busan on a flight on Monday. The person had a sore throat and skin lesions on June 19. A day after the individual's arrival, the person was admitted to a hospital in Busan. The hospital reported the person to the KDCA as a possible case of monkeypox and placed the patient in quarantine. The person has tested negative for the disease, according to the authorities.
Monkeypox is a zoonotic virus that was likely first transmitted to humans through various types of squirrels, primates, rats and other rodents in rural, rainforest regions of the Congo basin in central Africa. Since 1970, it has been found in 11 African countries, the U.S., Israel, the U.K., Europe and Singapore. It can be contracted through close contact with a symptomatic patient, including contact with bedding or clothing used by an infected patient. It is rare to contract the virus through microscopic airborne droplets as with the more contagious coronavirus, but it can be spread through bodily fluids such as saliva.
The incubation period for the monkeypox from infection to symptom onset is 6 to 13 days, while the duration of the disease is 14 to 21 days. Its fatality rate is three to six percent, according to the World Health Organization.
As of Wednesday, over 2,000 cases have been reported in 42 countries. Amid the current outbreak, the virus has spread fast across the European countries, with the U.K. having reported the most cases in the world with over 520 cases, followed by Spain (313), Germany (263) and Portugal (241). Only 64 cases have been reported in African countries, including Nigeria (36), Democratic Republic of the Congo (10), Congo (2), Central African Republic (8) and Cameroon (3).
The KDCA said Wednesday they currently have medication to treat 100 monkeypox patients. It added that it plans to acquire 500 doses of the anti-virus drug, Tecovirimat, from overseas, as well as a third-generation vaccine for the virus as soon as possible.
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