Biggest flu outbreak in 25 yrs hits Japan

Japan in the last week of December experienced the biggest influenza outbreak since comparable data became available 25 years ago, health authorities said yesterday.

The latest health ministry analysis of data gathered from 5,000 medical clinics showed that from December 23-29, 317,812 people were diagnosed with flu.

Cases of flu often rise in the winter in Japan and elsewhere, but some countries have seen large jumps in cases recently including in France and Britain.

Australia logged over 350,000 confirmed flu cases last year.