Cholera outbreak hits N. Korea

Cholera outbreak hits N. Korea

SEOUL (Reuter): North Korea has been hit by a cholera outbreak
that has infected hundreds of malnourished soldiers and
civilians, killing many of them, a South Korean intelligence
agency reported yesterday.

Seoul health authorities said they were stepping up quarantine
inspections at ports in response.

The Agency for National Security Planning quoted ethnic Korean
travelers from China as saying the outbreak was centered on the
west coast and one northern province.

"Since early June an outbreak of cholera has been reported in
North Korea's west coast and northern Yanggang province,
infecting hundreds of civilians and soldiers and killing many of
them," an agency statement said.

"Malnutrition, which has weakened the health of North Koreans,
seems to be the cause of the cholera outbreak."

Pyongyang had launched vaccination and sterilization programs
to prevent further spread of the disease that causes dehydration
and severe diarrhea and can kill within hours if not treated
promptly.

International relief organizations have warned that epidemics
could sweep North Korea unless adequate food aid arrives. Old
people and babies are most at risk.

A health ministry spokesman said ships and products from North
Korea would be more rigorously checked.

"The ministry will also increase the frequency of tests of
waters along the west coast and shellfish caught in the Yellow
Sea to prevent the possible outbreak of cholera from spreading to
the South," the spokesman said.

"There is a high possibility that cholera could spread further
in North Korea, which is facing a rainy season," he added.
Cholera is a water-borne disease.

On Thursday the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (IFRC) said North Korea, struggling to recover
from disastrous floods last year which wiped out most of its 1995
rice harvest, faces another grim winter under threat of
starvation and disease.