adminSeoul — North Korea says it has succeeded where the greatest minds in science have failed. The authoritarian, impoverished nation better known for pursuing a nuclear programme despite global criticism announced on Friday it has a drug can prevent and cure MERS, Ebola, SARS and Aids. The secretive state did not provide proof, and the claim is likely to provoke widespread skepticism.
The official Korean Central News Agency said scientists developed Kumdang-2 from ginseng grown from fertiliser mixed with rare-earth elements. According to the pro-North Korea website Minjok Tongshin, the drug was originally produced in 1996.
“Malicious virus infections like SARS, Ebola and MERS are diseases that are related to immune systems, so they can be easily treated by Kumdang-2 injection drug, which is a strong immune reviver,” KCNA said.
North Korea shut out foreign tourists for half a year with some of the world’s strictest Ebola controls, even though no cases of the disease were reported anywhere near the country, before lifting the restrictions earlier this year.
It is believed to be struggling to combat diseases such as tuberculosis, and respiratory infections are among its most common causes of death, according to the World Health Organisation.
North Korea trumpeted the same drug during deadly bird flu outbreaks in 2006 and 2013.
The North’s claim comes as rival South Korea fights an outbreak of MERS that has killed two dozen people and sickened more than 160 since last month. There is no vaccine for the disease.
Meanwhile, an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea appears to have levelled off, a health official said yesterday, as the country reported just one new patient, a day after Thailand reported its first case.
A total of 166 people have been infected in the South Korean outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia. It has been traced to a 68-year-old man who returned from a business trip to the Middle East in early May.
It has spread through hospitals, killing 24 people.
The Thai case, a 75-year-old businessman from Oman, does not appear to be linked to the South Korean outbreak but will spread anxiety in the region, even though the worst appears over in South Korea. — AP
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter