Japan Prepares As O157 Strikes Again

Japan prepares as O157 strikes again
Ed Gutierrez, April 19, 1997 - From the Lancet News

Japanese health officials are preparing to prevent an outbreak of O157 Escherichia coli on a scale similar to last year’s. 126 people have been infected, of whom one has died.

The death late last month startled public-health officials into disseminating food-preparation guidelines for small and medium sized outlets. Similar guidelines for larger institutions that serve food were distributed after last year’s epidemic, which infected 9451 people and left 12 dead. The main outbreak then was in elementary schools in Sakai City, Osaka; the source was believed to be radish sprouts. A national association of radish growers and the owners of [the farm] which has been described as the originator of the infection, have filed compensation suits against the government