Update | Japan confirms 22 people affected by first dengue fever outbreak since 1945
New cases of the mosquito-borne disease reported today involve suffers believed to have fallen ill after visiting Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, which is popular with residents and tourists.
An outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever in Japan – the first since the second world war – has affected 22 people, the nation's health ministry confirmed on Monday.
The cases involve teenagers or people in the early 20s, who are believed to have visited Tokyo’s huge Yoyogi Park, one of the major green areas of the city, next to Meiji Shrine, which is popular with young Japanese and performance artists.
The park, one of the largest open spaces in central Tokyo, is thought to be the source of the disease, which is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with the dengue virus.
Tokyo officials have now sprayed about 800 litres of pesticide throughout the park in an attempt to kill off the insects.
None of those found to have contracted dengue is in a life-threatening condition, officials have said.
The last infection of dengue fever in Japan was in 1945, although there are about 200 cases reported annually among Japanese people, who develop the disease while travelling abroad, mainly in Southeast Asia.