In the midst of the Covid-19 struggle, NK is dealing with another infectious disease outbreak
Key Takeaways:
- North Korea has claimed an unnamed bowel epidemic in a rural area, adding to the hermit country's persistent food shortages and an increase in Covid-19 infections.
- Watery diseases like typhoid were already rampant in North Korea, according to South Korea's spy service, which warned lawmakers before the coronavirus outbreak.
- Pyongyang has routinely reported the number of fever patients without identifying them as Covid patients due to a lack of testing tools.
On Thursday, North Korea reported an unnamed bowel epidemic in a rural region, adding to the isolationist country's struggles with chronic food shortages and a surge of Covid-19 infections.
According to state news agency KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent medications to the western port town of Haeju on Wednesday to help patients suffering from an "acute enteric epidemic." The number of persons affected and the condition was not specified.
The term "enteric" refers to the gastrointestinal tract.
According to KCNA, "(Kim) stressed the need of quickly limiting the pandemic by putting in place a well-coordinated program to quarantine suspected cases as well as confirm cases through an epidemiological investigation involving scientific tests.
As per a source from South Korea's Unification Ministry in control of inter-Korean ties, the government is monitoring the epidemic, which is suspected to be cholera or typhoid.
The suspected epidemic strikes as the North fights its first Covid-19 infection outbreak. It declared a state of emergency last month due to a scarcity of vaccines and medical supplies.
South Korea's spy service warned lawmakers before the coronavirus epidemic that watery diseases like typhoid were already common in North Korea.
Professor Shin Young-jeon of Hanyang University's College of Medicine in Seoul remarked, "Intestinal infections like typhoid and shigellosis aren't particularly unusual in North Korea." "What's alarming about it is that it comes at a time when the country is already dealing with Covid-19."
According to another official at the unification ministry, South Korea is eager to work with the North to combat the disease outbreak. Still, Pyongyang has been hostile to any proposals for dialogue, such as Seoul's earlier proposal to deliver Covid vaccinations.
South Hwanghae Province, where Haeju is located, is North Korea's key agricultural region, raising concerns about possible ramifications for the country's already dire food shortage.
While the infection risk of spreading through crops appears to be low, infectious disease expert Eom Joong-sik of Gachon University Gil Medical Center says that sanitizing water supply sources will be crucial because the disease will likely be waterborne.
Due to a lack of testing tools, Pyongyang has released the count of fever patients regularly without classifying them as Covid patients. Experts also argue that government-controlled media underreports information.
North Korea recorded 26,010 more people suffering from fever symptoms on Thursday, raising the total of fever patients in the nation to almost 4.56 million since late April. The pandemic has claimed the lives of 73 people.
The North has stated that the Covid wave is subsiding, but the World Health Organization has questioned Pyongyang's claims, claiming that the situation is deteriorating.