The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says North Korea is in need of vaccines and equipment to block the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

The U.N. agency said Thursday that around one million U.S. dollars worth of equipment and vaccines are urgently needed to help stem outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in the North, where farm animals are crucial to the nation’s food security.

The agency said veterinary experts from the U.N. and the World Organization for Animal Health that recently returned from the North confirmed that the communist state saw outbreaks of the disease.

The experts also found that the North’s capacity to detect and contain foot-and-mouth disease needs significant strengthening, in particular in bio-security measures and improving laboratory infrastructure and capacity.

According to the agency, outbreaks have been reported in eight of the 13 provinces in the North.