SEOUL—North Korea reported an outbreak of an unidentified intestinal epidemic in a farming region on Thursday, putting further strain on the isolated country as it battles chronic food shortages and a wave of COVID-19 infections.
Leader Kim Jong Un sent medicines to the western port city of Haeju on Wednesday to help patients suffering from the “acute enteric epidemic,” state news agency KCNA said, without giving the number affected or identifying the disease.
The term enteric refers to the gastrointestinal tract.
“(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….