S. Korea confirms new locally acquired 10th mpox case

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Health authorities in South Korea confirmed one more locally transmitted case of mpox infection Friday.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a South Korean national tested positive for the disease, formerly known as monkeypox, on Friday, bringing the total cases here to ten.

The KDCA said the new patient had not traveled overseas in the past three months. The patient is reported to be in good health by the KDCA.

Of the ten total infections so far, five were locally transmitted mpox cases.

The first case of mpox in Korea was reported in June last year and the first five cases were all linked to overseas travel.

Korea's sixth case, reported on April 7, was recorded as the first locally transmitted mpox case. As all five recently infected patients are unrelated to overseas travel, concerns are growing over a massive mpox surge.

As the number of confirmed cases due to community transmission has increased, South Korea said the previous day it decided to raise its mpox alert level from the current "Level 1 attention" to "Level 2 caution." Level 2 denotes a rise domestically of new infectious diseases from abroad and the limited spread of infectious diseases of unknown cause or reemergence in Korea.

The mpox virus spreads through close personal contact with an infected person through contact with their blisters, saliva or other infected bodily fluids.

Symptoms commonly appear seven to 17 days after skin-to-skin contact. They include a fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen glands, chills, a rash and skin lesions filled with fluid that eventually form scabs and fall off.

Transmission is also possible indirectly, through contact with objects that have been in contact with an infected person, such as clothing, bedding and towels they have used.

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)