{
  "id": 11401029,
  "title": "Japan Hit by Nationwide Flu Outbreak",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/japan-hit-by-nationwide-flu-outbreak",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-02T09:01:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Nippon.com News",
    "slug": "nippon-com-news",
    "url": "https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2026100200814/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tokyo has reported a nationwide flu outbreak, with the average number of influenza patients per monitored medical institution exceeding 1.0 across all 47 Japanese prefectures, according to a health ministry announcement on Friday. The ministry's data, based on the week ending Sunday, shows an average of 7.17 flu patients per institution nationwide. While this figure was slightly lower than the previous week's 8.48, a ministry official suggested the decline might be temporary, given yearly trends.\n\nOkinawa reported the highest patient count at 42.50, surpassing the warning level of 30. Other prefectures with significant numbers include Saitama with 14.17, Ibaraki with 12.50, Aichi with 12.33, and Gifu with 10.18, all exceeding the alert level of 10. The ministry advises the public to practice basic infection prevention measures such as regular handwashing and covering the mouth while coughing.",
  "summary": "Tokyo, Oct. 2 (Jiji Press)--The average number of influenza patients per monitored medical institution has exceeded 1.0 in all 47 Japanese prefectures, signaling a nationwide flu outbreak, a health ministry announcement showed Friday. The ministry said that the number of flu patients at some 3,000 regularly monitored institutions across the country came to 7.17 on average in the week throu...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Japan Times",
        "title": "Japan hit by nationwide flu outbreak",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/japan-hit-by-nationwide-flu-outbreak-11407706",
        "published": "2026-10-02T09:19:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}