Seoul, Aug 26, 2024, IANS

Seoul, Aug 26 (IANS) Eleven mpox cases have been reported so far this year in South Korea, but all detected cases were the less deadly Clade II variant, health authorities said on Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the latest case was reported last month, adding that health authorities have bolstered screening at borders to cope with the deadly new variant, Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea reported 151 Mpox cases last year. The majority of patients were males aged 20 to 40 in the greater Seoul area, with close skin contact being the primary route of infection. The agency noted that, unlike respiratory illnesses, Mpox is unlikely to be transmitted through everyday activities and asked the public to maintain basic sanitary measures. "As Mpox is a disease that can be prevented and treated, we believe that the outbreak can be managed stably under the current system," the KDCA said. The agency added that the government will continue to monitor for the possible influx of variants from overseas. Earlier this month, the KDCA decided to redesignate Mpox as an infectious disease subject to border screening. Arrivals who have visited eight African nations -- Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Congo, and the Republic of the Congo -- are required to report to officials if they exhibit symptoms related to Mpox, such as fever, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared Mpox a global health emergency, with 14 countries in Africa seeing an outbreak. The outbreak in Africa is majorly driven by Clade 1b, which is more virulent and deadly. It is also causing more infections among children. So far, outside of Africa, Clade 1b has spread only to Sweden in Europe and Thailand in Asia.