Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - On Thursday, North Korea claimed an unnamed intestine epidemic in a rural region, adding to the restric...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - On Thursday, North Korea claimed an unnamed intestine epidemic in a rural region, adding to the restricted country's struggles with chronic food shortages and a wave of COVID-19 infections.
On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent medicines to the western port city of Haeju to aid patients suffering from a "acute enteric epidemic," according to state news agency KCNA, which did not specify the number of people affected or the condition.
The gastrointestinal tract is referred to as enteric.
"(Kim) emphasised the importance of containing the pandemic as soon as possible by putting in place a well-coordinated plan to quarantine suspected cases and confirming instances through epidemiological examination and scientific tests," according to KCNA.
The government is monitoring the outbreak, which is suspected to be cholera or typhoid, according to a source from South Korea's Unification Ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs.
The reported epidemic comes as the North deals with its first COVID-19 illness outbreak. Last month, it declared a state of emergency due to a shortage of vaccines and medical supplies.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, South Korea's spy service notified lawmakers that watery infections like typhoid were already rampant in North Korea.
"Intestinal infections like typhoid and shigellosis aren't particularly novel in North Korea," said professor Shin Young-jeon of Hanyang University's College of Medicine in Seoul. "What's concerning is that it comes at a time when the country is already dealing with COVID-19."
Another official at the unification ministry stated that while South Korea is eager to work with the North to combat the disease outbreak, Pyongyang has been unresponsive to any offers for dialogue, including Seoul's earlier proposal to deliver COVID vaccines.
The primary agricultural region of North Korea, where Haeju is located, is South Hwanghae Province, raising fears about probable consequences for the country's already critical food shortfall.
While the risk of infection spreading through crops looks to be low, Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease expert at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, believes that sanitising water supply sources will be critical because the disease is likely to be waterborne.
Pyongyang has been releasing the number of fever patients on a daily basis without identifying them as COVID patients, owing to a shortage of testing tools. Experts also believe that the data given by government-controlled media are underreported.
On Thursday, North Korea reported 26,010 more persons suffering from fever symptoms, bringing the total number of fever patients in the country since late April to about 4.56 million. 73 people have died as a result of the pandemic.
The North has claimed that the COVID outbreak is diminishing, but the World Health Organization questioned Pyongyang's assertions earlier this month, stating that the situation is worsening.
