A fourth South Korean cholera patient appears to have been infected with the waterborne virus during a recent trip to the Philippines, health authorities said Monday.

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said an analysis of genetic fingerprinting of the 46-year-old man showed that his genotype matched 93 percent with that of a patient who was infected with cholera after a trip to the Philippines in 2005.

The CDC said it believes that the fourth patient contracted cholera in the Philippines, noting water or food he had consumed in the Southeast Asian country may be to blame for the disease.

Still, the CDC said it plans to announce the final results of its examination of the fourth patient after its epidemiological investigation is over.

The health authorities also said the genotype of the 46-year-old man is different from those of the three South Koreans who contracted cholera last month after eating seafood in South Korea.

It marked the first case of cholera in South Korea in 15 years.

The health authorities said they have launched investigations to determine how the three people were infected with cholera.

Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease, is curable with proper medication and treatment. It affects 3 million to 5 million people annually and claims more than 100,000 lives throughout the world.

The World Health Organization advises that the best way to prevent the disease is to take care of the sanitation and have access to clean water.

(Yonhap)