Report: Scarlet fever spreading in North Korea

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Scarlet fever is spreading in North Korea and threatens to become a full-blown epidemic despite efforts by authorities to contain the disease, a news report said Wednesday. The disease, which broke out in northern Ryanggang Province last month, was rapidly spreading to other parts of the communist state, including the capital Pyongyang, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. It cited unnamed South Koreans with information about the situation in the North. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said they did not have information to confirm the report.