Malaria Alert Issued for Gimpo and Paju

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Malaria alerts have been issued for Gimpo and Paju cities in Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 2nd that it has issued a "Malaria Alert" as of the 1st due to the occurrence of suspected malaria clusters in these two areas, urging residents and visitors to take special precautions to prevent malaria infection. This is the first time a malaria alert has been issued in Gyeonggi Province.

A suspected cluster case refers to a situation where two or more patients in a malaria risk area develop symptoms within 30 days of each other and live within 1 km of each other.

Starting this year, if there are three or more cases, an alert is issued to the relevant city or county to block community transmission. On the 1st, three suspected cluster cases were confirmed in both Gimpo and Paju cities.

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will conduct on-site investigations including mosquito habitat surveys, residence inspections, and identification of risk factors in the affected areas.

The city and county governments will carry out focused publicity through local medical and pharmaceutical associations, intensive mosquito control, rapid diagnostic testing for early detection, and provision of preventive medication to detect additional cases.

Jang Woo-il, Director of the Disease Policy Division of the province, said, "The most important thing to prevent malaria is to follow preventive measures and avoid mosquito bites from malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Residents or travelers in malaria risk areas should be careful not to get bitten by mosquitoes, and if symptoms such as fever or chills occur after a mosquito bite, they should immediately visit the nearest public health center (free of charge) or medical institution for testing. When traveling to countries where malaria occurs, it is also necessary to visit a medical institution in advance, consult a doctor, and take appropriate preventive medication."

Meanwhile, as of the 1st of this month, the number of malaria patients in South Korea reached 120, about three times higher than the 44 patients during the same period last year. Among them, 69 patients are in Gyeonggi Province, accounting for 57.5% of the nationwide total.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.