Korea's 1st monkeypox case flew in from Germany

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Korea's 1st monkeypox case flew in from Germany

Published: 22 Jun. 2022, 18:10 Updated: 22 Jun. 2022, 18:11

A text message warning about a case of the monkeypox virus is shown on a screen at Gimhae International Airport in Busan on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Korea found its first case of monkeypox in a man who entered the country from Germany the previous day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Wednesday that it confirmed its first monkeypox patient after conducting a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and genetic sequencing.

The patient was a Korean national in his 30s who returned from Germany via Incheon International Airport at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. He had contact with a suspected monkeypox case in Germany, and had possible symptoms of the virus such as headache, mild fever, sore throat and skin lesions on arrival.

The patient reported his symptoms to the KDCA on arrival and was immediately quarantined. He was admitted to Incheon Medical Center, a state-designated treatment center in Incheon, and is receiving treatment.

According to the medical center, the man is in a healthy state with no particular symptoms other than skin rashes. As there is no specific treatment for monkeypox cases, he is being treated with general viral drugs.

The KDCA said there was no high-risk contacts with the monkeypox patient in Korea, as he was isolated immediately after arrival.

The agency classifies the risk of people who come into contact with a monkeypox patient in three stages: high, medium, and low. High-risk groups refer to cohabitants and sexual contacts who came into contact with a monkeypox patient within 21 days after symptoms appeared.

People seated near the monkeypox patient on the plane from Germany will be monitored, the KDCA added.

Following the first confirmed case, the KDCA raised the alert level for monkeypox by one notch to "cautionary" from “interest.” Under the “cautionary” level, a task force team for the monkeypox virus has been upgraded from the current bureau-level to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, and each province and city will operate an emergency task force to strengthen monitoring.

To prevent imported cases, authorities said they will designate countries where many monkeypox cases have been found, and strengthen fever screening on people coming from those countries.

The government also plans to encourage travelers with symptoms to report them on a health questionnaire at the airport. Arrivals will be sent text messages about the country’s new pre-entry quarantine information system, known as Q-Code.

The monkeypox virus was designated a Class 2 infectious disease in Korea on June 7, the same as chickenpox, measles and Covid-19. Somebody infected with monkeypox will immediately be put into quarantine, while health care workers must report a confirmed case within 24 hours.

Patients will be quarantined until they are no longer infectious and have recovered. People who come into contact with a patient will be isolated for up to 21 days depending on the degree of contact.

Another suspected patient, a foreigner who entered Korea on Monday, tested negative for the monkeypox virus but positive for chickenpox, the KDCA said.

The foreign national also showed possible symptoms of the monkeypox virus such as sore throat and skin lesions, and visited a hospital in Busan a day after.

Although the second possible case tested negative for the virus, it was later found out that the visitor got through quarantine, immigration and customs without reporting the suspected symptoms, which raised worries of a loophole in the quarantine process.

So far, Korea isn’t equipped with any treatments or vaccines for the monkeypox virus.

Tecovirimat, which is the only medicine that has been approved for treatment of monkeypox, may be shipped as early as next month, with an amount for 500 people.

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday called for thorough preparation for vaccines and treatments to be supplied at medical sites, and the swift introduction of antiviral drugs for the monkeypox virus.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]