South Korea Verifies First Cholera Case in 15 Years

On Tuesday, the South Korean health authorities confirmed the first case of cholera in 15 years in Gwangju. This is the first time a local citizen has been infected with the disease without traveling overseas.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 58-year old man was infected with cholera in the southern part of Gwangju after suffering diarrhea on August 10.

In an article, the Korea Herald reported that the man was confined to a regional medical center, and after eight days, he was reported as a suspected case of cholera to Gwangju's public health center.

On August 22, the man was confirmed to have been infected with cholera. He was then sent home after being quarantined, treated, and recovered. Health officials said that they will conduct an additional investigation to check if the family members of the man were also infected.

The authorities also said that they are presently doing an epidemiologic inquiry on how the man acquired cholera without going abroad since June 2015.

Experts commented that the infection could have been because of imported food, which was potentially carrying the cholera bacteria known as Vibrio cholera. The man mentioned that he ate food during his trip to the southern coast early August.

All reported cases of cholera were found to have been contracted overseas since 2003.

in 2001, South Korea posted the highest number of cholera cases with 162 infected individuals mainly in Gyeongsang Province.

However, experts said that it is not likely that cholera will become an epidemic.

Professor Choi Jun Young of the Infectious Diseases Division at Severance Hospital said, "Since the main route of infection is through contaminated food or water, it is very rare (for it) to become an epidemic in developed countries with a decent environment and social infrastructure."

Health officials urged citizens to be more careful and take preventive measures such as avoiding raw food, consuming safe drinking water, and washing their hands for at least 30 seconds whenever applicable. CDC also created an emergency quarantine control system in May to monitor the outbreak of infectious diseases.