UN: N. Korea asks for aid over foot-and-mouth disease

ROME—North Korea has made an urgent request for vaccines and medical equipment to help it contain outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, the UN food agency said Thursday after visiting the communist state.

“The mission found that the country’s capacity and that of veterinary services to detect and contain FMD outbreaks need significant strengthening,” the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement.

“FAO estimates around one million dollars (704,000 euros) is required immediately for training, supplies and infrastructure, vaccine acquisition and the setting up of monitoring, reporting and response systems,” it said.

FAO said outbreaks had been reported in eight of North Korea’s 13 provinces.

“Many animals are dying from the disease. Farm animals are crucial to food security in North Korea,” FAO said, specifying that cows and oxen were important in the country both for dairy production and for ploughing.

North Korea said last month that it had been hit by the highly contagious disease, which experts believe started at the end of last year.

The secretive Communist country suffers persistent severe shortages of food likely to be worsened by livestock disease.

The United Nations says more than 6 million North Koreans are in urgent need of international food assistance.

The world body reported Thursday that North Korea has suffered a series of shocks including summer floods and then a harsh winter, “leaving the country highly vulnerable to a food crisis.”

It said the worst affected include children, women and the elderly, and recommended providing 430,000 metric tons of aid.

The report was based on an assessment conducted in February and March by agencies including the World Food Program at North Korea’s request.

The United States is considering resuming food aid to the North, which has continued to advance its nuclear programs despite its chronic problems in feeding its people. With a report from Matthew Pennington, Associated Press