Japan Legionnaires' Outbreak Kills 6

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 14, 2002

Japan Legionnaires' Outbreak Kills 6

An outbreak of Legionnaires disease at a new hot spring resort in southern Japan has killed six people and infected hundreds of others who shared the spa's bubbling waters, officials said Wednesday.

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An outbreak of Legionnaires disease at a new hot spring resort in southern Japan has killed six people and infected hundreds of others who shared the spa's bubbling waters, officials said Wednesday.

Sun Park Hot Springs opened July 1 and received about 1,000 visitors every day until authorities shut it down at the end of July, when the first cases were detected, said Toshiro Atae, deputy secretary at the Public Health Department in Japan's Miyazaki prefecture, or state.

Atae's health office said the hot spring infected 223 people with the disease and that 32 of them were hospitalized as of Wednesday.

Hot springs are a popular way to relax in Japan and are often touted for their purported health benefits. Fans claim they cure everything from skin problems to allergies.

Two years ago, three people also died of Legionnaires' disease after contracting it at a hot springs resort in the eastern prefecture of Ibaraki.

Legionnaires' disease is a bacterial infection and a form of pneumonia that is characterized by fever, chills, and a cough. It takes its name from a July 1976 outbreak that killed 29 people at the Pennsylvania American Legion convention at a hotel in Philadelphia.

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