Japan tackles first dengue fever outbreak in 70 years

September 2, 2014  10:28

Japan is battling its first outbreak of dengue fever in almost 70 years, with at least 22 people confirmed as being infected, BBC reports.

The health ministry said the cases were believed to have been contracted by visitors to Tokyo's popular Yoyogi Park.

An outbreak of dengue fever was last recorded in Japan in 1945.

The tropical disease, which is spread by mosquitoes, causes symptoms like high fever and severe joint pain.

Domestic mosquitoes could have picked up the virus from tourists and passed it on, it said.

Now the government is working to tackle the park thought to be the focus of the outbreak.

New warning signs have been put up and teams of workers in white overalls and masks have descended to spray insecticide and drain its ornamental ponds, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo.

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