Via UPI.com: North Korea battling post-flood cholera epidemic. Excerpt:
A cholera epidemic is growing in North Korea after "catastrophic" floods swept though the country's northeast.
But Kim Jong Un has yet to visit the devastated region where volunteers have reportedly died while working on recovery projects.
Cholera, a contagious and often fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine, has been spreading because of contaminated drinking water, Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday.
A source in North Korea's Yanggang Province told RFA the consumption of contaminated water is also leading to widespread cases of acute diarrhea caused by the E. coli bacteria.
Cities affected include the Hyemyong district of Hyesan, Musan and the region of Onsong. Both volunteer workers and local residents have been affected, according to the report.
The source said it is likely the "already substandard water and sanitation system" was hard hit, and residents have been unable to distinguish the difference between drinking and sewage water since the disaster.
The source also said the elderly and children "are dying" and that diseases were "floating, like a shadow of death."
North Korea has reported the floods are the worst since World War II and that hundreds of thousands of people have been forced out of their homes.
But the North Korean leader has yet to pay a visit to the disaster zone, South Korean news service News 1 reported on Tuesday.
