North Korea has sought assistance from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to counter a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
Assistance was requested in relation to preventative and eradication measures last Sunday, Radio Free Asia reported on the 26th. This was followed by a face-to-face meeting with FAO officials in Rome during which it was agreed that a team would be dispatched to the North to assess the current situation.
Preventative vaccines will be provided should the North request them, the FAO further confirmed.
Around $800,000 USD worth of foot-and-mouth vaccines were provided to the North in early 2012, with funds provided by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
This most recent foot-and-mouth outbreak was first detected at the Pyongyang Pig Factory, Chosun Central News Agency announced on the 21st. North Korean authorities have yet to respond to South Korea’s subsequent offer of working-level talks aimed at containing further spread of the disease.
