Re: North Korea: Bird flu outbreak reported; human cases suspected.
The problem is lack of infrastructure support for food distribution. It's a chronic problem for many poor countries. Afghanistan, which has just called for yet more international aide, is a prime example - it has more aide than it can possibly distribute, and yet people are starving. Ditto for Haiti, another country that has let food aid rot in ports because officials were unwilling or unable to clear red-tape for distribution to their people.
If you do a Google search on 'why are South Koreans starving', you will find articles dating back to the mid-90s, chronicling nearly annual starvation reports from rural communities (larger cities do not lack for food in most years).
As in Ethiopia (presently suffering from drought-related famine in rural areas as farmers await new crops to mature throughout the summer months), consumption of roots, plants, and grasses, and even bark and dirt as soups or stews, as a last resort, typically results in intestinal infection and death in weakened and malnourished villagers. Most of the deaths occur in young children due to successive seasons of food shortages.
According to Henry Nimans Google Map, the purported outbreak falls on a vector that is consistent with migratory bird=borne infection.
It's interesting that, despite these recent reports, South Korea has canceled most of it's AI watches, about a month after the final outbreak was reported in mid-May 2008. It would be prudent for South Korean agricultural and public health officials to quietly approach Pyongyang with offers to help monitor for H5N1 outbreaks. Relations between the two countries had appeared to warm a bit this past Spring.
Recently reports of human infectious outbreaks, particularly among children, are likely to be attributable to common intestinal viruses, rather than H5N1, particularly in malnourished rural communities lacking proper medical facilities.
The problem is lack of infrastructure support for food distribution. It's a chronic problem for many poor countries. Afghanistan, which has just called for yet more international aide, is a prime example - it has more aide than it can possibly distribute, and yet people are starving. Ditto for Haiti, another country that has let food aid rot in ports because officials were unwilling or unable to clear red-tape for distribution to their people.
If you do a Google search on 'why are South Koreans starving', you will find articles dating back to the mid-90s, chronicling nearly annual starvation reports from rural communities (larger cities do not lack for food in most years).
As in Ethiopia (presently suffering from drought-related famine in rural areas as farmers await new crops to mature throughout the summer months), consumption of roots, plants, and grasses, and even bark and dirt as soups or stews, as a last resort, typically results in intestinal infection and death in weakened and malnourished villagers. Most of the deaths occur in young children due to successive seasons of food shortages.
According to Henry Nimans Google Map, the purported outbreak falls on a vector that is consistent with migratory bird=borne infection.
It's interesting that, despite these recent reports, South Korea has canceled most of it's AI watches, about a month after the final outbreak was reported in mid-May 2008. It would be prudent for South Korean agricultural and public health officials to quietly approach Pyongyang with offers to help monitor for H5N1 outbreaks. Relations between the two countries had appeared to warm a bit this past Spring.
Recently reports of human infectious outbreaks, particularly among children, are likely to be attributable to common intestinal viruses, rather than H5N1, particularly in malnourished rural communities lacking proper medical facilities.
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