South Korea logs 16 monkeypox cases in 1st week of May

South Korea logged 16 new cases of monkeypox for the first week of May, pushing the country's total to 60, health authorities said Monday.

Eleven of the cases have been reported from the capital Seoul, while two are from Gyeonggi Province, and three are from Incheon, Busan and Gwangju, local Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Out of the 16 patients, 14 are Korean nationals and two are foreigners, and none of them traveled abroad in the past three weeks, it added.

South Korea recorded the first case of mpox in June last year and four more cases through March. The first five cases were linked to overseas travel.

Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. Patients often start exhibiting symptoms with a fever, enlarged lymph nodes, back pain, and muscle aches before a rash appears on the skin, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 86,000 viral disease cases and 119 deaths since January 2022 all over the world.

Last year, the World Health Organization renamed monkeypox to mpox, saying the name of the disease acted as "racist and stigmatizing language."

Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while the term "monkeypox" is phased out, it added.