Biggest flu outbreak in 25 years hits Japan

Japan in the last week of December experienced the biggest influenza outbreak since comparable data became available 25 years ago, health authorities said yesterday.

The latest health ministry analysis of data gathered from 5,000 medical clinics showed that from December 23-29, 317,812 people were diagnosed with flu.

That is more than three times the 104,612 cases recorded in the same period in 2023 and the most for any week since records began in 1999.

Cases of flu often rise in the winter in Japan and elsewhere, but some countries have seen large jumps in cases recently including in France and Britain.

Agence France-Presse