North Korea faces outbreak of ‘unknown enteric disease’ It could be some form of cholera or typhoid.
The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reports, without specifying, that the port city of Haeju is at risk of a “serious intestinal infection.”
At least 800 families and 1,600 people affected by this “acute enteric epidemic” also received medical aid in southern Hwanghae Province, where the city of Haeju is located.
According to Reuters, South Korean authorities believe the mysterious outbreak was likely caused by cholera or typhoid, two bacterial diseases transmitted through contaminated water or food.
South Korean officials say it could be a form of cholera or typhoid.
This new epidemic is definitely putting additional pressure on a country already gripped by a wave of new Covid cases.
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North Korea recorded “18,820 new cases of fever” on Monday as it heads for the first official outbreak of COVID-19, North Korea’s official news agency KCNA announced on Monday.
As of Sunday, the news outlet had detailed prevention efforts, including setting up quarantine measures, to deal with this situation. A campaign for “intensive screening of all residents” and “special monitoring of vulnerable people such as children and the elderly” is now intended to limit the spread of the epidemic. Disinfection work is underway, including sewage, to ensure the safety of drinking water, the media said.
KCNA had reported another 19,310 new fever cases on Sunday, without specifying how many of those patients had tested positive for the coronavirus.
More than 4.6 million people are said to have had fever symptoms since the Covid epidemic was first recognized in mid-May. As of June 19, KCNA had reported 73 deaths related to this “fever.” Because it is impossible to independently verify the numbers of infections and recoveries reported by North Korean state media, cases of fever related to the intestinal disease remain very difficult to define among the millions of fever cases.
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The World Health Organization had indicated earlier this month that the situation in North Korea could be getting worse. However, WHO emergency chief Michael Ryan said the world organization does not have access to reliable data from North Korea. Offers by the WHO, South Korea and the United States to send vaccines and medical aid to North Korea have been rejected or met with silence by Kim Jong Un’s regime.