BBC
2/20/2007
North Korea has been hit by a measles epidemic that has killed four people and infected some 3,000, the Red Cross has said.
Measles has been found in 30 counties since the outbreak began in November, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
Pyongyang has requested five million doses of vaccine to fight the epidemic.
Correspondents say medicine is in short supply and years of malnutrition has weakened resistance to disease.
In a statement, the IFRC said North Korea had confirmed two children and two adults had died from measles and its complications such as pneumonia.
More than 1,000 people are still receiving treatment for the disease.
The authorities in Pyongyang only confirmed the measles outbreak last week because the disease was believed to have been eradicated from the country in 1992, the federation statement added.
The Red Cross, the World Health Organization and other international bodies are now helping to tackle the outbreak.
There have been recent reports of outbreaks of scarlet fever and typhoid in the reclusive Communist state, where most people are faced with daily food shortages and a dilapidated health service.
4 Dies From Measles Epidemic in North Korea
Korea Times
2/20/2007
A measles epidemic has claimed at least four lives and infected about 3,000 people in North Korea, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Monday.
The federation said in a statement that measles has been found in 30 North Korean counties since the outbreak started in November last year.
It added that four deaths were reported on Jan. 4 when two children and two adults died from measles and its complications such as pneumonia. Around 3,000 North Koreans were confirmed to have infected with the disease.
Pyongyang has asked international organizations for massive doses of vaccine to prevent further spread of the epidemic.
The North has requested 5 million doses of measles vaccine to immunize its citizens aged from seven to 45.
The requested doses cost $1.5 million, and North Korea will pay the costs for transportation, distribution and staff training.
UNICEF is expected to lead the immunization campaign and keep the related organizations informed of developments.
North Korea’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed the measles epidemic last Thursday, and the information was immediately discussed in a joint meeting the following day by the North Korean Red Cross, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.
The federation said the disease was initially believed to be rubella. The first identification of measles came on Nov. 6 in the northern region of the country.
It added that the communist country has failed to bring the epidemic under control and the disease spread throughout the country.
The WHO supplied Pyongyang with testing kits in January, but there were constraints because North Korea was thought to have eradicated the disease in 1992.
The country’s health care workers were thus not familiar with the disease, the federation pointed out.
