[imText1]It has recently been learned that such acute infectious diseases as Paratyphoid, Whooping Cough and Leprosy are going around Yangkang, Hamkyung, and Hwanghae provinces, and are beginning to spread all over the country.
This news came after a follow-up story reported by two special correspondents from the DailyNK, who examined N.Korean border areas and interviewed 17 North Korean residents from those areas.
βIt is certainly a period of hardship. The North Korean people do not have enough to eat and so are malnourished. All kinds of unidentified epidemics are spreading out over the country. Two or three house in each area seem to have a few infectious cases. Tuberculosis is not considered as a serious disease. Women and the elderly come down with Paratyphoid, and children infected with Whooping Cough are confined in preschoolsβ, said Choi Gil Yeo (pseudonym, 59, Haeju of South Hwanghae province).
βIt is similar to what occurred during the ‘March of Tribulation’ 10 years agoβ
Last spring, the diseases appeared in Hwanghae, Yangkang, and North Hamkyung provinces, and they have been spreading to inland areas since.
in addition, some people living in Yangkang province came down with βunidentified epidemicsβ whose symptoms are oozing skin sores. resembling leprosy. Many in the North Korean government fear that the disease is a rection to infected beef or pork ingested by people who were subsequently stricken with the illness.
During the last 3 months of research, all of the North Koreans (11 defectors and 6 travelers) interviewed in the border areas around the Yalu and Tumen Rivers expressed the same opinion that, βVarious epidemics are going around. It is similar to the March of Tribulation period (when numerous North Koreans died of starvation in the mid-90s). During the period, all kinds of epidemics were going aroundβ.
Present travelers to China are already aware of the names, symptoms and causes of the epidemics thanks to local household educators and medicinal peddlers in Jangmadangs, illustrating that the epidemics have already begun to spread all over the country.
People who are infected with Paratyphoid experience high fever, diarrhea and acute digestive problems. The epidemic seems to have begun in Hwang Hae province and later spread to Pyongan and Hamkyung provinces. Deaths due to Paratyphoid have been increasing.
On June 12, Choi Gil Yeo, who came back from visiting her relatives in Dandong said that, βSince the end of May, the number of Paratyphoid patients and deaths has been rising in Haeju city, and the Chungdan district and Shinwon districts. I do not know how many people are infected, but at least 1 out of 10 households is infected with Paratyphoidβ.
Prevention through nutrition: “the disease appears only in poor countries”
Whooping Cough is an acute respiratory disease which often affects children under the age of 10, and has spread to some areas of North Hwanghae, Hamkyung, and Pyongan provinces. In Hamheung province a few children have died from the illness.
Park Chul Man (pseudonym, 62, South HamKyung province), who came into China via Tomen maritime customs in Yanbian reported that, βSince the middle of April, Whooping Cough has been going around among children in preschools, and in June, a few infants died. In Hamheung and Chungjin provinces, even elementary school students are restricted from traveling due to fears of the disease spreadingβ.
In Haesan, in the Kim-hyeong-jik district of Hangkang province, unidentified epidemics are spreading.
Defector Lee Sung Hee (pseudonym, 25) said that, βSome infected cows and pigs were sold at butchers in Jangmadang, and people who ate the diseased meat showed symptoms of peeling and oozing skin. We do not yet know what it is, but people are calling it leprosy”.
Lee said that, βThe North Korean government has restricted meat sales in Yangkang province. In addition, Haesan, Kim-hyeong-jik, Kimjongsook and Bochun districts are also under tight control in order to prevent the diseased meat from being introduced into those areas”.
In the meantime, defector Park Jeong Hwa (pseudonym, 36) added that, βI spoke with my family in North Korea over the phone and heard that leprosy was going around. Now, when people are issued a travel certificate by the police, a “personal hygiene certificate” from the health administration is also necessaryβ.
The North Korean government systemically deprives citizens of medicine provided by the international society
The North Korean people see malnutrition as the main cause of the epidemics.
Generally, diseases in North Korea have come from malnutrition, and are considered diseases that occur only in poor countries. An important note regarding the current epidemic is that the diseases are similar to the ones that prevailed during the period of famine in the mid-90s.
Kang Sun Mi (pseudonym, 59, Sariwon) from Yanji said that, βTuberculosis, typhoid fever, paratyphoid, and whooping cough are the same diseases that prevailed during the March of Tribulation, which many people fear is beginning again”.
Defector Kim, working as a doctor in Longjing, said that, βNorth Korean hospitals do not have medicine or medical instruments, and doctors do not receive food rations, forcing them to go to Jangmadangs or to work for the Foreign Currency departmentβ.
Kim said that, βofficers working at National organizations monopolize all medicine and food aid so that normal citizens do not have access to themβ.
Kim also said that, βmedicines are light and small, and are therefore easy to exchange for cash. National organizations and the Foreign Currency department therefore want medicines more than food aid. If the international society would like to provide medicinal aid, it should be given to local clinics directly rather than big hospitals in citiesβ.
On the other hand, some North Koreans, including those interviewed since July 5, responded that it was natural for them to have been informed about the missile test from a wired broadcast aired by (North) Korean Central Broadcasting, the only broadcasting channel operated in the North. (continue)
