There is an Alert to Japanese encephalitis infection in Kochi now. I hope everyone get vaccination and protected.
On August 17th, the Kochi prefecture office alerted people of an infection of the Japanese
encephalitis virus. They took blood samples from ten random pigs to test for this virus. After being tested, 80% of the pigs were infected with the virus. It is usually thought to be dangerous at 50% infection. Pigs are compromised carriers of the Japanese
Encephalitis virus and people can be infected indirectly through mosquitoes. One in 1,000 people who are infected by the virus may develop serious encephalitis and 20-40% of people who got encephalitis may lose their lives. In Kochi, there are no reports of
the patients after 2011, but in Japan, 3 cases were reported last year. Please be careful about mosquitoes, and please remember to vaccinate children for the disease, if they haven’t been already. (from Kochi Newspaper on
August 20th)