We knew that life in North Korea probably isn't great, but thank your lucky stars that you're not this guy.
A North Korean defector who was shot while escaping into South Korea has been found to have 'an enormous number' of parasitic worms squirming in his intestines.
The soldier crossed the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea on Monday but was shot multiple times by guards on the border, reports the BBC.
The soldier being treated in hospital in Suwon, South Korea. Credit: PA
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While doctors say his condition is stable, the worms are said to be contaminating his wounds and making it worse, with the longest worm removed by doctors so far 27cm (11in) long.
"I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years as a physician," South Korean doctor Lee Cook-jong told journalists. "We are paying close attention [to the man] to prevent possible complications."
Doctors believe that the defector most likely contracted the worms through eating contaminated food.
Like many countries, North Korea is known to use human faeces as a fertiliser for food. It is likely that untreated faeces was used to fertilise vegetables which had been eaten by the soldier uncooked, allowing the worms to enter his mouth and intestines.
While there are ways to treat the faeces so it can be safely used to fertilise crops, many poorer countries fail to do so.
While some parasites can be life threatening, others don't cause severe symptoms and can easily go unnoticed. Either way, it's not a comfortable thought, it?
Credit: PA
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North Korea is known to have serious health problems as a nation, with the presence of parasites being a key indicator.
In 2015, South Korean researchers found that North Korean defectors showed higher rates of chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, tuberculosis and parasite infections, compared to South Koreans.
"I don't know what is happening in North Korea, but I found many parasites when examining other defectors," Professor Seong Min of Dankook University Medical School told the Korea Biomedical Review.
"North Korea does not have the resources to have a modern medical system," he added. "Its doctors are relatively poorly trained and have to work with primitive equipment."
While North Korea has a per capita income similar to that of many African countries, the population in North Korea is still healthier than might be expected, boasting a higher life expectancy.
Source: BBC
Topics: World News, South Korea, News, Hospital, Weird, Health, North Korea