North Korea has confirmed suspicions that it is battling an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, meaning that the disease has now reached every corner of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang unexpectedly reported the outbreak to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) yesterday, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).
RFA, citing an anonymous source from within the FAO, claimed that the North Korean Ministry of Agriculture described the outbreak and requested emergency aid in the form of a letter. However, the letter reportedly made no reference to the extent of damage to date, which areas of the country have been affected or the number of livestock involved.
The South Korean government reportedly obtained intelligence about a foot-and-mouth outbreak around Pyongyang as early as last month, but the North Korean government did not respond.
The FAO had earlier confirmed that it would be prepared to send emergency aid to North Korea in the event of any outbreak of the disease, and has moved swiftly to begin preparations to respond to the request now that it has been received. Alongside physical aid, a team of specialists will probably be sent to North Korea “at an appropriate time” to try and control the spread of the disease, according to the source.
“The first thing the specialists will need to do once they are in North Korea is work out the extent of the contagion, and then put preventative measures in place to make sure it doesn’t go any further,” RFA added. “The initial notification from North Korean authorities to the FAO indicates a high chance that immediate quarantine operations will be possible through their active cooperation.”
The FAO gave a total of $430,000 to North Korea between 2007 and 2009 in aid to help combat the disease.
