Mpox Alert Raised from “Attention” to “Caution”: Number of Patients Increases to Nine

Authorities confirmed the ninth case of mpox (monkeypox) in South Korea. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that it would raise the infectious disease alert level for mpox from “attention” to “caution” on April 13 after a string of patients contracted the virus in the local community recently.

The Agency announced that it confirmed one more case of mpox on Wednesday, bringing the nation’s total up to nine. The ninth patient was a South Korean national residing in Gyeonggi-do, who visited the hospital with skin lesions on April 12. The hospital suspected an mpox infection and reported the case to the public health center that had jurisdiction. A DNA test result came back positive for the virus. The patient is currently receiving treatment in quarantine and doctors are considering the use of the tecovirimat (TPOXX), the mpox treatment.

The patient is believed to have contracted the virus in the local community, since he had no history of overseas travel within three weeks of experiencing symptoms and he had come in close contact with another confirmed patient. The authorities are currently conducting an epidemiological survey to track down the source of transmission.

The Disease Prevention Agency held a meeting to assess the situation on April 12. Despite the recent drop in the global number of mpox cases, the Agency considered the fact that the virus was still spreading in neighboring countries, such as Japan and Taiwan, and that three new cases were confirmed in the past week and decided to raise the alert level from “attention” to “caution.”

However, given the characteristics of the virus, which spreads through intimate contact with a confirmed case (skin-to-skin contact, sexual contact, etc.), it is not likely for a massive wave of the virus to hit the general population. Most of the patients recover naturally and authorities have secured sufficient means to respond to the virus. Therefore, the Agency expects the virus’s impact on the public health care system to be limited.

Now that the alert level has been raised, the Disease Control and Prevention Agency will strengthen its response by raising the status of the mpox response unit currently in operation to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, and local governments will establish a local disease control response unit centered on areas where cases have been confirmed along with adjacent areas.

Jee Young-mee, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, “The alert level was adjusted because of a need for preemptive measures to control transmission in the local community through unidentified cases,” and stressed the utmost need for cooperation from the people and the healthcare industry to prevent the virus from spreading in the local community.