Introduction of infection routes and symptoms, citing WHO
While North Korea was trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it also paid attention to the monkey pox virus, which has recently been spreading.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) showed interest on its website on the 25th, saying, “The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the number of cases of monkey smallpox infection, which has been spreading in various countries and regions, is expected to increase in the future.”
“Monkey smallpox is caused by a virus (virus) of the same strain as smallpox, and the symptoms are much milder and the infection rate is lower than smallpox,” the news agency said.
Still, he said, “It is said that there have been deaths in West Africa,” he said.
Then, the infection route and symptoms were introduced in detail.
“This virus is known to only come through close human contact between people,” the news agency said.
It did not explain, however, that the majority of cases of infection occurred in men who had sex with the same sex.
Regarding the main symptoms, he said, “If you look at the initial symptoms, it is fever, head, back pain, muscle pain, and weakness.” .
Regarding treatment, he said, “There is no treatment method for monkey smallpox so far. Smallpox waxin (vaccine) has been proven to be 85% effective in preventing this disease.”
North Korea, which has argued that the COVID-19 vaccine is ineffective, is emphasizing the effectiveness of the monkey pox vaccine.
Monkey smallpox is endemic to Midwest Africa. After the first confirmed case was confirmed in the UK on the 7th, a large number of infections have occurred mainly in Europe and North America. No cases of infection were reported from neighboring countries such as South Korea.
By Kang Min-hye, staff reporter