One in eight flights arriving in Korea was confirmed to have multiple pathogens, including enterotoxigenic E. coli, a type of harmful E. coli bacteria.

On Monday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released the results of on-board quarantine for 493 flights arriving in Korea from July 31 to Nov. 14.

On-board quarantine means that after an airplane arrives in Korea from overseas, quarantine officers inspect the sanitary conditions aboard the aircraft, take samples, and take measures based on the results to ensure a certain level of hygiene.

Korea temporarily suspended quarantine from 2020 to July 30, 2023, to focus on Covid-19 quarantine as the number of flights was reduced due to the pandemic’s outbreak. However, it resumed it on a trial basis on July 31, following the gradual recovery of daily life.

Accordingly, 439 direct international flights were selected and tested for cholera, 10 types of enterobacteria were found in cabin specimens, and pathogens were detected in 58 flights, or 11.8 percent.

Specifically, 39 cases of enterotoxigenic E. coli, 32 cases of enteropathogenic E. coli, four cases of enteritis vibrio, and four cases of Salmonella were detected.

The KDCA notified the airlines of the detected pathogens and requested their cooperation in disinfecting the aircraft.

Besides, considering the recent surge in concerns about overseas importation of bedbugs, and there are already many complaints of bedbug bites on airplanes in the U.S. and the U.K., KDCA plans to improve its quarantine capabilities so that scientific evidence-based vector inspection can be carried out on vehicles and cargo in stages.

"We will strive to protect Koreans from overseas diseases by taking various measures, such as minimizing quarantine blind spots through aircraft hygiene management and inducing voluntary inspections by airlines in line with the revised International Civil Aviation Organization international standards," KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said.