South Korea Requires Immigrants With Symptoms Of Monkeypox From 8 African Countries To Report To Health Authorities

The arrival area at Incheon International Airport, Incheon, South Korea. (Wikimedia Commons/Tjrdbsjung)

JAKARTA - South Korean health authorities announced on Tuesday that they were starting to require people with symptoms of mpox (masspox) who came from eight African countries to report to the authorities, while re-establishing the pomx as an infectious disease that must undergo border checks.

The move comes after the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) pledged last week to step up countermeasures against the virus, following a World Health Organization (WHO) statement on the outbreak ofmpox in Africa as a global health emergency.

Based on these steps, migrants who have visited eight countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be required to report to officials if they show symptoms related to thempex, such as fever, muscle aches and swelling of the lymph node, quoted from The Korea Times August 21.

KDCA will also place health workers at the arrival gate for direct flights from Ethiopia and implement additional monitoring measures, such as checking wastewater from aircraft.

As of August 9, Korea has reported 10 cases ofmpox this year, down from 151 in 2023, according to KDCA.

Despite setting a global health emergency Yesterday, WHO officials said monkeypox was not COVID-19, with authorities knowing how to control its spread.

"We can and have to overcome the Mpox together," WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told a news conference.

"So will we choose to implement a system that is able to control and eradicatempox globally? Or will we enter a cycle of panic and other neglect? The way we respond today and in the years to come will be an important test for Europe and the world," Kluge said.