North Korea sees outbreak of unidentified disease amid COVID wave

North Korea reported an outbreak of an unidentified intestinal epidemic on Thursday, as the country is already struggling to cope with a wave of COVID infections and food shortages.

State news agency reported Leader Kim Jong Un sent his family's reserve medicines to the western port city of Haeju on Wednesday to help patients suffering from the "acute enteric epidemic." The term enteric refers to the gastrointestinal tract.

The agency did not share details about the disease, and the number of people affected was not specified either.

"Kim stressed the need to contain the epidemic at the earliest date possible by taking a well-knit measure to quarantine the suspected cases to thoroughly curb its spread, confirming cases through epidemiological examination and scientific tests," KCNA said.

South Hwanghae Province, where Haeju is located, is North Korea's key agricultural region.

An official at South Korea's Unification Ministry said the government is monitoring the outbreak, suspected to be cholera or typhoid.

COVID state of emergency still ongoing

North Korea declared a state emergency last month amid its first reported COVID outbreak. The isolated nation faces a shortage of vaccines and medical supplies.

While the possibility of infections spreading through crops appears low, key will be disinfecting water supply sources as the disease is likely waterborne, Eom Joong-sik, an infectious disease expert at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, told Reuters.

Some observers told the AP news agency the outbreak is likely to affect Kim's image as a leader caring about public livelihoods.

KCNA said more than 4.5 million out of the country's 26 million people have fallen ill due to an unidentified fever, but that only 73 died. The country has identified only a fraction of those as confirmed coronavirus cases due to an apparent lack of test kits in the country.

Pyongyang said the COVID-19 wave has shown signs of subsiding. Yet the World Health Organization cast doubts on these claims earlier this month, saying it believes the situation is getting worse.