A scarlet fever outbreak in North Korea is edging toward epidemic scale, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, which cited an anonymous source with knowledge of conditions inside the country. The disease has been advancing for nearly a month with no sign of slowing.
Authorities imposed a travel ban on affected areas, but the measures have failed to halt the spread. The illness moved from Ryanggang province into other regions along the border with China. The anti-Pyongyang website Daily NK separately reported quarantine measures along that border, drawing on sources within North Korea.
Analysts attribute the rapid spread to weakened immune systems among the general population and a severe shortage of medicines. Scarlet fever, a bacterial infection marked by rash, sore throat, and fever, can escalate into rheumatic fever if left untreated, potentially causing heart damage and joint inflammation, particularly in children.
North Korea's vulnerability is compounded by chronic poverty and isolation. The UN World Food Programme has reported that roughly 37 percent of children under age 6 and about one-third of mothers in the country are malnourished, leaving the population with little resistance to infectious disease.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.