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Japan food poisoning epidemic shows no sign of slowing
July 16, 1996
Web posted at: 8:00 p.m. EDT (2400 GMT)SAKAI, Japan (CNN) -- Japan's worst food poisoning case in 50 years is showing no signs of easing. Since Friday, more than 5,000 schoolchildren in the Japanese city of Sakai, near Osaka, have been sickened. More than 400 remained hospitalized Tuesday, and 17 were in serious condition.
Health officials believe that school lunches contaminated with the potentially fatal O-157 E. coli bacteria caused the outbreak. Each school prepares its own lunches, but all get their food from the same suppliers. Officials suspect a lunch distributed on July 5 was responsible. Sea eel sushi and a clear soup were on the menu that day.
The bacteria, which is highly infectious, can take four to five days to manifest its symptoms, which include diarrhea, nausea and a high fever. Hospitals in and around Sakai have been flooded with food poisoning victims since last week.
Fear sparks cleaning frenzy
Panic is spreading as fast as the epidemic, with a major cleaning frenzy one of the byproducts. Many local markets have sold out of detergents, bleaches and disinfectants, and a number of cleaning supply manufacturers said that their sales were up dramatically.
All 92 elementary schools in Sakai were shut down Monday for disinfection. School officials say they would remain closed at least until Wednesday, and probably later.
Investigators now are in the process of tracking down the origin of the bacteria, but they say their task will be extremely difficult. The meat and vegetables used in the suspected school lunches are supplied by 68 wholesalers.
And while Education Minister Mikio Okuda instructed schools to begin keeping samples of the lunches they served for seven days, they previously kept them for only three. The Education Ministry has also ordered schools to review their sanitary measures, cooking methods and school lunch supplies.
Earlier this year, E. coli outbreaks in other parts of Japan, including Tokyo and Hiroshima, killed three children and an elderly woman.
Food poisoning associated with the O-157 strain is fairly common in the United States, where about 20,000 cases are reported annually, experts say.
Correspondent May Lee, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Related story:
- Japanese city closes schools in food poisoning outbreak - July 15, 1996
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