There is concern as to whether North Korea is able to deal with an outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) which has broken out around Pyongyang.
As with most countries, when FMD occurs North Korea takes basic measures. As Committee for Democratization of North Korea Secretary General Seo Jae Pyong explained to The Daily NK on January 20th, “My father used to work in the preventive measures office. North Korea is thorough about the control and management of FMD. They mobilize the army to totally shut down the area then destroy the livestock.”
Seo went on, “Therefore, the pace of infection is slow in North Korea. It can be seen as a characteristic of socialist society. This is possible since the movement of citizens is limited and the government thoroughly controls it.”
However, North Korea tends to depend on quarantine rather than treatment for not only livestock but also human infectious diseases. When an infectious disease breaks out, outsiders’ movement into the area is halted and local citizens cannot travel outside it without a permit.
In the 1990s, infectious diseases like measles, cholera, typhus, typhoid, paratyphoid, malaria, and scarlet fever raged in North Korea, so there is a lot of relevant experience. Infected individuals are isolated in a designated hospital ward, and the health condition of those who come into contact with an infected person are checked hourly by preventive measures offices, hospitals or clinics.
However, experts say that the effectiveness of quarantine measures is questionable when there are no appropriate disinfection and control measures in place.
Vice-president of the Korea Rural Economic Institute Kwon Tae Jin explained to The Daily NK, “According to a United Nations investigation, there is a difference of about five times between the number of cows and pigs in North and South Korea. Among them, cows are used as a ‘tool of production’ rather than for eating. In North Korea, where food is running short, the elimination process cannot be guaranteed for that livestock infected with FMD, and information on whether it is definitely being carried out is hard to find.”
Vice President Kwon went on, “North Korea is vulnerable after the outbreak of FMD. Quarantine of the area and control of travel are well-controlled but the supply of the right medicines for treatment is insufficient. The amount of medicine in North Korea’s possession is unknown, but our finding is that the effectiveness of these drugs is much debased.”
Allegedly, cows infected with FMD also enter the food chain rather than being destroyed. One North Korean defector from Yangkang Province commented, “Even if FMD breaks out among the livestock, everyday North Korean citizens still cannot have meat; only farm managers or officers can have free FMD-infected meat.”
In addition, the defector stated, “I have eaten FMD-infected meat; a rotten cow hind with bugs all over it. I can eat a rat which has eaten rat poison, so eating FMD-infected cow is not an issue.”
He explained, “North Korean citizens sell their livestock in the market without hesitation, even if it has been infected with FMD, and buyers also purchase it in understanding of this fact. However, since the livestock is infected with FMD, owners sell it at a lower price.”
