SEOUL– South Korea has reported no additional monkeypox infections linked to the country’s first patient and has ended close monitoring of dozens of people who had traveled with the person on a plane, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Tuesday.
The country confirmed its first monkeypox case on June 22 after a South Korean who arrived from Germany on a plane a day earlier had tested positive. The person received isolation treatment at a hospital upon arrival and was discharged last Thursday after recovering.
The KDCA said it ended monitoring of 49 passengers who had traveled together with the person as of Monday midnight, after all of them showed no related symptoms for 21 days. Eight of them had been classified as being at high risk, and 41 had been classified as being at low risk.
The virus, traditionally confined to regions in Central and Western Africa, can cause symptoms that include fever, chills, rash and lesions.
The country has been vigilant against a potential inflow of monkeypox as an increasing number of countries have reported cases of the viral disease and international travel has increased following the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
Source: Yonhap News Agency