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.