Free Fever and Cough Tests for Inbound Travelers... 'Infectious Disease Alert' Ahead of Lunar New Year Holiday

KDCA to Offer Respiratory Infectious Disease Testing at Airport and Seaport Quarantine Stations
Beware of Mosquito-Borne Diseases Such as Dengue Fever and Malaria
Early Spread of Influenza B...Vaccination Recommended

On February 9, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) urged the public to take special care to prevent imported and respiratory infectious diseases during the Lunar New Year holiday, as overseas travel and family gatherings will lead to increased movement and contact.

If you are planning to travel abroad, you should check in advance the infectious disease situation and prevention guidelines of the country you plan to visit before departure, and strictly follow personal hygiene rules such as handwashing during your trip. The KDCA has designated and is managing 24 countries (regions) as priority quarantine management areas, and from February 10 it will provide free respiratory infectious disease testing at quarantine stations in airports and seaports nationwide for inbound travelers from overseas who have respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, or sore throat. If you develop suspected symptoms of bacterial dysentery, cholera, or similar illnesses, you must report them to a quarantine officer at a national quarantine station and promptly receive diagnosis and treatment after returning to Korea.

Attention is also needed for mosquito-borne infectious diseases imported from overseas. To prevent dengue fever, malaria, chikungunya fever, and similar illnesses, you should check the infectious disease situation in the country you plan to visit before departure, and during your trip you should avoid mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved tops and long pants and using mosquito repellent. If dengue fever is suspected upon entry due to mosquito bites or fever, you can be tested free of charge. If the result is positive, you must visit a medical institution for confirmatory diagnostic testing. Rapid test kits for dengue fever are available through the Overseas Infectious Diseases NOW service, the KDCA website, and national quarantine stations across the country.

Norovirus infection, which mainly occurs in winter, is also widespread, so you must be careful about what you eat and drink. You should also follow hygiene rules to prevent person-to-person transmission. If you experience symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting, you must stop preparing food and visit a nearby medical institution. If two or more people who ate the same food develop the same symptoms, it must be reported immediately to the public health center.

As the spread of influenza B has begun earlier than in previous years, it is particularly important to follow respiratory prevention guidelines ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. You should follow basic rules such as handwashing, cough etiquette, and indoor ventilation, and if respiratory symptoms appear, you should promptly visit a medical institution for early treatment. The KDCA has urged that seniors and pregnant women, who are at high risk of severe illness if infected, as well as children and adolescents, among whom the current infection rate is high, should receive influenza vaccination even now.

Meanwhile, to prepare for the spread of respiratory infectious diseases such as winter-season influenza and COVID-19, the KDCA has been operating the "Joint Task Force on Respiratory Infectious Diseases" with relevant ministries since November 2024. In cooperation with local governments, it has formed a joint dedicated body and is focusing on managing high-risk groups in facilities vulnerable to infection.

KDCA Commissioner Lim Seungkwan said, "Even if you were infected with influenza A in the early phase of this winter's outbreak, you can still be infected again with influenza B," and added, "To spend the Lunar New Year holiday in good health and safety, people should follow respiratory infectious disease prevention guidelines and refrain from going out if they have symptoms."