Avian influenza (AI) recently struck several regions in North Korea, and the country immediately launched measures to stop the disease from spreading, Daily NK has learned.
A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK last Thursday that there were outbreaks of AI — also known as the “bird flu” — at an ostrich ranch in Pyongyang’s Sunan District and a chicken factory in Anju, South Pyongan Province.
The authorities have begun efforts to stop further infections, he said.
The ostrich ranch and chicken factory are of particular importance because they supply side dishes to local residents and the military.
AI spreads extremely rapidly, and can infect people as well as animals. Generally speaking, when there is an outbreak of AI, authorities slaughter birds at the affected farms. The farms are also banned from distributing or processing poultry.
In North Korea, provincial quarantine offices take charge of slaughtering all the birds at farms where there are outbreaks of AI, something likely to result in rising meat prices or the aggravation of the country’s already poor food situation.
Moreover, some officials take bribes to sell poultry at low prices prior to the slaughter, seriously threatening people’s health.
North Korean authorities are cracking down on this, but it is not enough to stop the practice completely.
“There’s rising social unease that bird flu could spread to other regions,” said the source. “Many people are worried because there are lots of other diseases going around as we enter the winter season.”
AI is an acute viral infection that affects poultry such as chickens and ducks. A single outbreak can ruin a farm.
In particular, in North Korea — which does not boast a particularly good quarantine system — AI outbreaks can lead to even worse losses.
Because of this, North Korea goes on quarantine alert during seasons when infectious diseases are widespread, and engages in propaganda to bolster public attention.
In fact, the North Korean media has long paid attention to outbreaks of AI and African Swine Fever (ASF) at farms in South Korea, reporting on several recent outbreaks.
North Korean quarantine authorities have begun quarantine efforts to stop the spread of AI, focusing on migratory bird habitats.
The source said because the bird flu “usually spreads through wild birds,” the authorities are “intensifying controls on migratory bird habitats.”
“Quarantine officials are currently cracking down on areas around the migratory bird habitat of Soho Lake, Mundok County, South Pyongan Province,” he said.
Daily NK reported that during an AI outbreak in early 2020, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called in cadres for an early morning response committee meeting that designated migratory bird habitats as special protection zones.
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