THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
February 15, 2019 at 14:35 JST
OSAKA--Health officials have issued measles warnings to anyone who shopped at a commercial complex here, particularly for Valentine’s Day gifts, or used specific bullet trains connecting Osaka and Tokyo earlier this month.
A public health center in Osaka said Feb. 14 that a staff worker and six customers were infected with measles at the Abeno Harukas commercial complex, bringing to 16 the number of confirmed cases there.
Earlier this month, nine workers at a Valentine’s Day fair venue on the ninth floor of the complex’s wing tower were confirmed infected with measles. The latest announcement is the first to list customers.
The six customers are in their teens to 30s and visited the complex on Jan. 26 or 27.
The latest staff member confirmed infected is a woman in her 30s who worked at the Valentine’s Day venue between Feb. 5 and 10.
The health center believes the measles outbreak came from the same source and is urging customers who visited the commercial complex and the Valentine’s Day venue to check for symptoms, including high fevers and rashes.
Also on Feb. 14, the Osaka prefectural government said a woman in her 40s who traveled between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line on Feb. 8 and 10 was infected with measles.
The Osaka woman developed a fever on Feb. 6 and rashes broke out on her body on Feb. 9, according to the prefecture’s medical division. The disease was confirmed on Feb. 13.
She traveled to Tokyo on the Nozomi No. 340 bullet train that left Shin-Osaka Station at 11:56 a.m. on Feb. 8.
She returned to Shin-Osaka using the Nozomi No. 121 bullet train that left Tokyo at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10.
The infected woman was in reserved-seat cars on both trains.
The prefectural government is asking passengers on the same trains to call medical institutions for advice if they develop symptoms of measles. The prefecture said people with symptoms should not immediately visit hospitals where they could spread the disease.
The number of confirmed measles cases in Osaka Prefecture this year was 46 as of Feb. 12, more than triple the figure for all of 2018.
Visit this page for the latest news on Japan’s battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
The Asahi Shimbun aims “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” through its Gender Equality Declaration.
Let’s explore the Japanese capital from the viewpoint of wheelchair users and people with disabilities with Barry Joshua Grisdale.
The Abeno Harukas commercial complex in Osaka (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
