AFD - North Korea Outbreaks

[sharon sanders]

North Korea Denies Report Of Disease Outbreak




# 2058



http://afludiary.blogspot.com/




For what it's worth, the North Korean government is denying reports from last week indicating that children had been dying from a mysterious ailment. Bird flu and HFMD (Hand Foot Mouth Disease) were both mentioned as possible causes.

As I pointed out last week, there didn't seem to be any real reason to suspect avian flu, and HFMD seemed a far more likely diagnosis.

A hat tip to Crof on Crofsblog for picking up this story from Yonhap News.

N.K. denies rumors on bird flu outbreak: report


SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has denied rumors that avian influenza or hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) is spreading in the country, a radio report said Tuesday.


The North's heath authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) that there has been no single case of bird flu or HFMD reported to the authorities this year, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said.


The denial came in response to a report published a week ago by South Korean aid group Good Friends, claiming that a mysterious epidemic suspected to be bird flu or HFMD has been spreading in North Korean towns bordering China. The disease has already taken the lives in recent months of many North Korean infants already suffering from malnutrition caused by food shortages, the group claimed, citing unnamed North Korean doctors in the border area.


The WHO has rendered technical and monetary support to North Korea to help prevent possible bird flu outbreaks since the communist state was hit by the deadly disease in 2005. No new case has been reported since then.
(Cont.)
​

posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 9:40 AM

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: AFD - North Korea Outbreaks

North Korea: Bird Flu Rumors Persist



# 2061


More than a week ago stories of an epidemic affecting children began coming out of North Korea. These reports came from the Buddhist aid group Good Friends.

Epidemic spreads in N.K. border towns: aid group
SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- An unidentified epidemic is spreading along some North Korean towns bordering China, placing North Korean health authorities on high alert, a local aid group said Tuesday.

The disease, suspected to be avian influenza by some North Korean doctors or hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) by some others, has already taken the lives of many North Korean children under seven years old, the Buddhist group Good Friends said in its newsletter.
​

Yesterday, North Korea denied these reports.

Today, we get a new report from the Good Friends aid organization, the story carried this time by the Associated Press.

Jun 11, 5:22 AM EDT
Bird flu outbreak reported in North Korea, South Korean aid group says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Bird flu has broken out near a North Korean military base in the first reported case of the disease in the country since 2005, a South Korean aid group said Wednesday.

The outbreak occurred last week near an air force base in Jongpyong county in South Hamgyong province, northeast of the capital Pyongyang, the Seoul-based private aid group Good Friends said, citing the North's quarantine authorities.

The case was first reported June 3, when several birds were found dead in a small mountain area near the military base, said the aid agency. There were no details on whether it was the H5N1 virus, which can be deadly to humans.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report.

Separately, dozens of magpies were found dead inside a political prison camp in Hwasong in North Hamgyong province, the aid group said. A prison camp official's 5-year-old child subsequently suffered a high fever and died, the group said. There was no way to confirm if the child caught a virus from the birds or to know what killed the child.
​

The report goes on to say that 3 additional people at the camp were diagnosed with an unidentified `viral infection', and that the camp was quarantined.


According to the Associated Press article, the Good Friends organization has provided reliable information about North Korea in the past.


From this distance it is impossible to know how much stock to put into these rumors. Two reports in a little over a week, however, is worth taking note of.

posted by FLA_MEDIC @ 7:40 AM

 

[Sunshine123]

Re: AFD - North Korea Outbreaks

Thank you Florida1!