Masha Midhath   22 June 2022 - 10:00 PM
South Korea reported its first imported case of monkeypox Wednesday, becoming the latest of some 40 countries — and the first in East Asia — to have identified the disease.

A South Korean national in their 30s who arrived from Germany on Tuesday was confirmed to have contracted the viral disease, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The patient, whose identity has been withheld, developed a fever last weekend and symptoms worsened to include fatigue and skin rash when they arrived in the country, Peck Kyong-ran, the disease control agency chief, told reporters.

The patient reported to the authorities at the airport before they came into close contact with others and is now receiving treatment, Peck added.

Further details of the person’s condition have not been made public.

The normal initial symptoms of monkeypox include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a blistery chickenpox-like rash.

Seoul’s Wednesday report came hours after Singapore announced its first imported case of the disease in this year’s outbreak. The patient, a 42-year-old British flight attendant who had been flying in and out of Singapore, tested positive for monkeypox on Monday.