SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – On Thursday, North Korea announced another outbreak of an infectious disease in addition to its current outbreak of COVID -19. patients with new diseases.
It’s unclear how serious the new outbreak is, but some outside observers say North Korea’s likely goal is to tarnish Kim’s image as a leader who cares about the public economy because he needs more public support to surpass the suffering associated with the pandemic.
Kim offered medicines for his family on Wednesday for those diagnosed with an “acute intestinal epidemic” in the southwestern city of Haijuo, according to the official Korean central news agency. Separately the leading Northern newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a photo on the front page showing Kim and her husband Ri Sol Joo discussing the salt solutions and other medicines given to them as gifts.
The KCNA did not specifically specify what the outbreak was and how many people were infected.
Some observers have suggested that an “enteric epidemic” in North Korea refers to an infectious disease, such as typhus, dysentery or cholera, which is an intestinal disease caused by food or water contaminated with germs or by contact contact with the feces of infected people.
Such diseases are commonly found in North Korea, which does not have good water treatment facilities and the public health infrastructure has been severely damaged since the mid -1990s.
After North Korea announced an increasing number of patients with fever symptoms last month after being diagnosed with corovirus disease, South Korea’s spy agency said a “large number” of cases of these fevers include diseases such as measles. , typhus and whooping cough.
“The spread of measles or typhoid is not common in North Korea.” I think there is a spread of infectious diseases there, but North Korea is using it as an opportunity to point out that Kim cares about his people, “Ahn said. Kyung-sum, the leader. DPRKHEALTH.ORG, a website that focuses on North Korea’s health problems. “So it’s more like a political message than a medical one.”
Last month, according to state media, Kim had already sent the drugs to her family to COVID-19 patients.
The KCNA said more than 4.5 million of the country’s 26 million people contracted unknown fever, but only 73 died. The country has only identified a small fraction of them as confirmed corovirus cases due to the apparent lack of a series of trials in the country. Many foreign experts The death toll in the north is questionable Admittedly, it is unlikely to be reported to protect Kim from political damage.
At a ruling party conference last week, Kim said the pandemic had already passed the stage of “serious crisis”. But the country still maintains high restrictions, which according to some outside experts will further exacerbate the country’s troubled economy, which has been hit by the closure of borders associated with a protracted pandemic and sanctions. UN.
On Thursday, the South Korean Unification Ministry renewed their offer of Korean cooperation on medical and health issues. After the North acknowledged the spread of COVID-19, South Korea and the United States offered shipments of vaccines, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid, but the North did not respond.
Source: Huffpost
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