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"<p>\n\tNorth Korea is struggling to control the spread of a strain of tuberculosis that is resistant to conventional treatment.<br />\n\t<br />\n\tAid workers said that the impoverished country, which already has one of the highest rates of TB outside of sub-Saharan Africa, is unable to cope with the recent outbreak, according to Chosun.com.<br />\n\t<br />\n\tMulti-drug resistant tuberculosis is not responsive to the two most powerful anti-TB drugs commonly used, and conditions in North Korea seem ideally prepared for the illness to spread. Much of the country&rsquo;s climate is cold, and most citizens work in cramped environments and lack the proper nutrition required for a healthy immune system.<br />\n\t<br />\n\t&quot;North Koreans have told me that tuberculosis is their number one, number two and number three primary public health concern,&quot; Stephen Linton said, Chosun.com reports. Linton is the chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation in Seoul and recently returned from North Korea, a country he has visited nearly 70 times.<br />\n\t<br />\n\tThe Eugene Bell Foundation is currently treating approximately 600 patients in North Korea at a cost of $2,000 per case annually. The treatment involves many years of taking second-line drugs that have drastic side effects.<br />\n\t<br />\n\t&ldquo;I think their average life expectancy would be no more than five years,&rdquo; Linton said, according to Chosun.com. &ldquo;To make matters worse, there&#39;s a very good chance that they would pass this resistant form of TB on to their families, to their co-workers, whoever comes in contact with them. So it becomes not only a personal tragedy but a serious social problem at the same time.&quot;</p>\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/stories/510532498-tuberculosis-spreading-through-north-korea>