JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A international tourist to South Korea's southernmost resort island of Jeju has tested positive for measles, making it first case of the highly contagious disease on the island in five years.
Officials said over the weekend that the tourist had entered the island on Feb. 1 and tested positive Thursday. The patient came to Jeju from Seoul after arriving in the South Korean capital on Jan. 22, following a month-long stay in Vietnam.
The Jeju government said Monday in a statement that 74 contacts to the patient have been tracked down and confirmed to have no symptoms of measles.
"Jeju Island informed the contacts of the need for vaccination, and urged them to report to the public health center immediately if symptoms such as fever and rash appear," the provincial government said.
Related
The contacts will remain under what the Jeju government called "passive monitoring" -- meaning they must report to a public health center if symptoms appear -- for 21 days from the date of exposure.
South Korea experienced a measles epidemic affecting some 50,000 people in 2000-2001. But since then, the Asian country has carried out elimination initiatives, such as vaccination campaigns, resulting in the World Health Organization declaring South Korea "Measles Free" in 2014.
However, amid an increase in cases worldwide, South Korea has seen a handful of cases in the last few years.
After detecting zero cases in 2021 and 2022, South Korea confirmed eight cases in 2023, followed by 49 last year, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. All patients confirmed last year were were infected after traveling abroad or were in contact with someone infected who was, it said.
As of Tuesday, there have been three cases in South Korea so far this year, the KDCA's Infectious Disease Control Division confirmed to UPI.
The other two cases were detected in Gyeongnam and Gyeonggi provinces, according to the KDCA's website.
"This is the first case in Jeju Island since 2019, and the Jeju Island Disease Response Center is conducting thorough contact and epidemiological investigations, led by an epidemiological investigator," the Infectious Disease Control Division told UPI.
In South Korea, measles is classified as a second-class infectious disease that is highly contagious and spreads through the air.
Symptoms include fever, rash and oral grayish spots.
It can be prevented by the measles MMR vaccination.
In early January, the KDCA issued a warning to those planning to travel abroad to get vaccinated.
