World health officials are encouraged by two developments in North Korea. First was confirmation earlier this week that an outbreak of avian influenza in that isolated country was not due to the dreaded H5N1 subtype. Second, and perhaps equally important for long-term efforts to monitor emerging diseases, was North Korea's willingness to cooperate with global animal and human health surveillance efforts. The country notified the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the outbreak and allowed FAO experts to confirm the virus as an H7 subtype. Korean officials also informed the World Health Organization (WHO). Such exchanges, unthinkable a decade ago, suggest that the secretive nation is increasingly willing to participate in global health protection efforts.
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