3rd cholera patient confirmed
By Lee Kyung-min
The health authorities confirmed Korea’s third cholera infection on Geoje Island, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday.
A man, surnamed Kim, 64, who had diarrhea for more than a week, tested positive for the waterborne acute diarrheal disease, following the nation’s first case in 15 years on Aug. 23, and the second on Aug. 25. The three all ate seafood produced on Geoje Island.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Kim’s symptoms appeared on Aug. 21, two days after he and his wife purchased squid and sardines at a fish market on Geoje and ate them at home. He said he blanched the squid and roasted the sardines.
Kim first visited a clinic to be treated for diarrhea on Aug. 24, and was hospitalized the next day after his symptoms grew worse including acute kidney failure following dehydration caused by diarrhea.
Last Friday, he was transferred to an ICU at Dong-a University Hospital in Busan. After testing positive for cholera on Tuesday, he was moved to an isolation ward. But his condition improved and he was released Wednesday.
Kim’s wife, 61, who also had diarrhea after eating the fish, tested negative.
Authorities collected utensils and cooking equipment from their home for inspection, checking whether the foods might not have been thoroughly cooked or the ingredients might have been contaminated during cooking. Additional tests will be conducted on people who had contact with Kim including doctors, nurses, hospital staffers and other patients.
The KCDC has yet to determine how or from where the bacteria came, as the strain of the bacteria found in the first two patients was the first of its kind reported in Korea.
It said the three patients were infected with Vibrio cholerae El Tor biotype, and DNA fingerprinting is underway to determine whether the genotype of the bacteria from the third patient matches that of the first two.
If the genotype matches, the source of the infections may be contaminated coastal water near Geoje Island, according to the KCDC.
“Considering that all the three had seafood produced on Geoje, the primary cause of infection might be from eating seafood contaminated by the already polluted water along limited parts of the coast,” a KCDC official said.
Widespread contamination of the coastal water is unlikely, as no other neighboring regions have reported the same infection, she added.
In 2001, 162 people were infected with cholera in the Gyeongsang region due to contaminated coastal water as well, according to the KCDC.
The first patient this year was a 59-year-old man living in Gwangju. He ate sushi and marinated crabs during a trip to Geoje. The second patient, a 73-year-old woman living on Geoje, ate mackerel at her church.