S. Korea vulnerable to pandemic outbreak: report

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea remains vulnerable to a worldwide pandemic
outbreak that could spread rapidly in the country despite quarantine efforts, a
government report said Tuesday.
The assessment by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC)
said that while no South Korean national has been confirmed as having contracted
the type A H1N1 virus since May 3, the total number of cases reported abroad has
increased sharply.
Seoul said three Koreans have been infected so far, though all have been released
from quarantine in good health after being treated by doctors.
"At present quarantine measures seem to be effective in ferreting out sick
people, but if there is a pandemic involving large number of sick people, it may
be impossible to control its spread," the disease control service said.
It stressed that the nature of the virus, which can be transferred from
person-to-person and passed on during the incubation period when a person may not
show symptoms, makes it impossible to detect a patient early. The incubation
period can reach nine days from first exposure to the virus.
The KCDC also said that South Korea just does not have enough manpower to deal
with an outbreak.
"Existing quarantine offices have been on 24-hour emergency standby for several
weeks so the country's ability to deal with a spike in the type A flu or other
outbreaks is severely limited," it said.
The country has just 37 epidemiologists to conduct tests and help contain a
pandemic, with a limited number specialized quarantine and treatment facilities
and medical experts to handle a sudden surge in patients.
Most small-sized harbors and airports do not have quarantine facilities, with
suspected cases currently being taken to nearby hotels for observation and
preliminary treatment.
To cope with such shortcomings, the KCDC said the number of epidemiologists
should be doubled to 74 and that a counter-influenza control center should be set
up to organize any emergency situation that develops in the future.
The report comes as the country confirmed earlier in the day that a 22-year-old
Vietnamese woman who arrived in the country on Sunday from Seattle has been
infected with the virus.
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, said the new virus strain has hit 40
countries worldwide, infecting a total of 8,829 people. Of those, 74 have died
from the virus with most of the deaths taking place in Mexico.
The organization is currently examining steps to raise its alert level by one
notch to deal with the spread of the new flu virus in countries like the United
States and Japan.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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