News of a foot-and-mouth outbreak in parts of North Korea has
raised questions over the regimeβs ability to prevent the spread of the disease.
This is not North Korea’s first experience of the highly contagious disease. According to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), over 10,000
pigs and 1000 cattle were infected in late 2010 in Taechon County, North Pyongan
Province, Sangwon, Sinpyong and Hwangju
counties in North Hwanghae Province and Geumgang County in Gangwon
Province.
North Korean defectors now living in the South report that the authorities
enacted litttle in the way of preventative measures to contain the spread of the disease,
even when cattle were known to have clear symptoms of infection.
Furthermore, policy remains limited when it comes to distributing
required materials for disinfection and prevention, and vaccines are
administered in such a manner that their impact is marginal at best.
Pak Yon
Suk (45, pseudonym), a former resident of Taechon County, North Pyongan Province, told Daily NK on the 27th that, “Inoculation does
occur but itβs not consistent. There are
many instances when it just doesn’t happen at all. The only
thing you can do is to burn a fire with rice straw and spread the warm ashes on
the floor on the pigsty. You also have
to make it so that the sunlight can come through easily and ventilation
improves.β
“Frankly speaking, even if a pig that you raised dies of a
disease itβs still thought of as an investment.
You had to feed it after all.
This kind of mindset is hard to abandon,β she continued, before adding, βPeople
either eat the dead pigs or cows or sell the meat cheaply at the market.β
However, others believe it unlikely the North will see widespread damage as a result of this most recent outbreak due to the limited
number of pig farms in the North and the regime’s tight control over the movements of its people.
Senior researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute Kwon Tae Jin
told Daily NK, “In Korea, pig farms are run by individuals but in the
North they are managed by the
state. These operations are fairly small
in nature, so it seems it wonβt be too difficult to prevent (the spread
of the disease). Any contagion would occur slowly.β
“Even though the North doesnβt have equipment such as air conditioners
like the South does, and even though they lack the quantity of medicine needed
to contain the disease, mortality was still only around 20-30% in 2010,β he
explained.
“The North Korean
authorities deny travel permits to those who reside in the areas where there is
an outbreak, and no one from the outside can enter, either. Fortunately
these kinds of restrictions have a positive impact in terms of limiting the
spread of contagious disease,β Park agreed.
Meanwhile, North Korea has sought assistance from the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) to help combat the outbreak. They have yet to respond
to overtures from the South Korean government to hold working-level talks on
the matter.
