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Japanese
group says N.Korean infected with bird flu By Parisa Hafezi The Star, 26 Jan 2006 |
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TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese group helping defectors from North Korea said on Wednesday a woman in Pyongyang was infected with bird flu last month after chickens carrying the disease were found in the capital. Lee Young-wha, head of Rescue the North Korean People! Urgent Action Network, did not elaborate on how members of his group had found the woman to be affected, but said she was reported to have been admitted to a Red Cross hospital in December. |
He had the group, strongly critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, make checks after scientists from a group representing pro-Pyongyang Koreans living in Japan went to North Korea carrying 10 packs of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu. Lee, however, said members of the group could not verify whether the woman had been infected with the virulent H5N1 strain of avian influenza or a less virulent strain. |
North Korea's state media said in November it was stepping up its efforts to counter an outbreak of bird flu, but no cases of human infection had been reported. Bird flu has killed at least 83 people in six countries since late 2003, and experts fear the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that can move easily among people, setting off a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide. |
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