Malaria's Back in South Korea

South Korea was considered to have eradicated malaria in the 1970s. Then the disease started creeping over the border from North Korea, infecting soldiers in the demilitarised zone between the two countries. The first case was recorded in a soldier in 1993. Five years later, 3,932 South Koreans were infected, mostly around the border areas. Now, it appears malaria has been re-established even beyond the border zone. Last year, South Korea recorded 23,000 cases, according to experts at Seoul National University.

The general rule of thumb is that for every recorded case of malaria, there are 10 more cases that go unrecorded, which would suggest South Korea’s malaria burden tops 200,000. More alarming is what this resurgence of malaria in South Korea suggests about North Korea. Experts suspect ongoing malaria epidemics, spilling over the border, but information is scarce.

For more, see:

“Malaria spreading from North Korea to South Korea, Researchers Say,” GlobalHealthReporting.org, May 1, 2008

JS Lee et al, “Outbreak of vivax malaria in areas adjacent to the demilitarized zone, South Korea, 1998,” American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol 66, Issue 1, 13-17