S. Korea unlikely to have massive mpox surge

Kim Sung-ho, the vice interior minister in charge of disaster and safety management, speaks during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Government Complex in Sejong, central South Korea, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The number of locally transmitted cases of mpox infection is on the rise, but the country is unlikely to face a massive surge of the virus, which is most commonly transmitted through close personal contact, not via air, Korea's health authorities said Wednesday.

Kim Sung-ho, the vice interior minister in charge of disaster and safety management, said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters that “Given the characteristics of the virus, which spreads through close personal contact with an infected person, such as skin-to-skin contact or sexual contact, the risk of transmission of mpox in the general population is relatively low. The public does not need to be overly anxious over a massive mpox surge.”

The announcement came as the country has seen a total of 16 infections so far. Of the total, 11 were locally transmitted mpox cases unrelated to overseas travel.

“To stop the spread of the mpox virus to others, if suspicious symptoms appear, please report the disease to a public health center within your address jurisdiction,” Kim said.

As the number of confirmed cases due to community transmission has increased, authorities said last week the government has 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.

South Korea has stockpiled enough Tecovirimat, the antiviral medication for orthopoxviruses such as mpox, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The number of confirmed mpox infections has decreased in regions such as the US and Europe, but some neighboring Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan have seen increasing trends, health authorities noted. Japan reported eight mpox patients last year, but 98 cases have already been reported this year as of April 11.

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 three to 17 days after skin-to-skin contact. They include a fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes, a rash and skin lesions filled with fluid that eventually form scabs and fall off. As of April 10, 96.4 percent of confirmed cases are men, data from World Health Organization.

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)