Two additional cases of mpox, both suspected of being local transmissions, have been reported following the nation's first local infection earlier this month. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) on Wednesday confirmed the nation's seventh and eighth patients as residents of Seoul who separately had close contact with other patients in the country within three weeks of experiencing symptoms.

The seventh patient tested positive after experiencing a fever and skin lesions on Monday, a day before the eighth patient tested positive after having similar symptoms. The KDCA has yet to confirm a link among the latest three cases.

A first-phase epidemiological study of the sixth patient, the nation’s first local infection, residing in South Jeolla Province determined that the patient had no record of overseas travel this year but recently visited the southeastern port city of Busan.

The study did, however, identify close contact between the patient and a person suspected of being the source of the transmission within the past three weeks. Thirty-six others who had contact with the patient are being monitored.

While the KDCA said there is a low chance of an outbreak of the virus resulting from transmission through skin contact, it plans to consider raising the crisis alert from the lowest "attention" to the second-lowest "caution" on the four-tier scale.