Japan Times -- Oct 12
A man in his 40s in Tokushima Prefecture has acquired the tick-borne disease known as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS, through contact with a dog, local government said Tuesday.
It is the first case of the infection transmitted through a dog, according to the health ministry. The man suffered from fever and vomiting but has already recovered.
In late June, the dog was diagnosed with the SFTS virus after the man took it to a veterinary hospital, the prefectural government said.
The pet owner first reported feeling ill in mid-June and took a blood test after the dog was found to be infected with the SFTS virus. The test result showed in late September that the man was also infected.
He did not have any apparent signs of mite bites. But SFTS virus antibodies detected in the blood test suggest that he had been infected within the previous few months.
The infection may have entered his body through his mouth or a break in the skin.
The dog is a house pet, which likely became infected while it was out for a walk.
徳島県の40代の男性がマダニが媒介するウイルスにペットの犬から感染していたことが分かりました。ペットの犬から人への感染が確認されたのは初めてです。 今年6月ごろ、徳島県の40代の男性のペットの犬が、マダニが媒介する感染症のSFTS（重症熱性血小板減少症候群）を発症しました。
News sources: Japan Times, ANNnewsCH
Aug 21
2 tropical storms are bearing down on Japan. Weather officials are calling on people to keep up on developments as they approach.
(NHK) Aug 21
Japanese police arrested a 19-year-old university freshman on Monday for allegedly making and possessing triacetate triperoxide, a lethal explosive known as TATP. (Jiji) Aug 21
20 million foreigners have visited Japan so far this year. It's the earliest in any year this milestone has been reached.
(NHK) Aug 21
The Japanese Olympic Committee said Monday that it has disqualified four basketball players from the ongoing 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, for allegedly violating the code of behavior at international multisport event. (Jiji) Aug 21
A team of Kyoto University said Monday it has applied for approval by the health ministry of a plan to infuse platelets made from induced pluripotent stem cells into a sufferer of a serious blood disease. (Jiji) Aug 20
A 14-year-old boy was arrested Sunday for allegedly stabbing a newspaper delivery woman in Osaka Prefecture in July, in what he claimed to be a random attack, police said. (Japan Today) Aug 20
Japan's education ministry is planning to place English-speaking artificial intelligence robots in schools to help children improve their English oral communication skills.
(NHK) Aug 20
Police in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, are deploying 3,000 officers to find a suspect who has been on the run for a week.
(NHK) Aug 20
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency suspended a final exercise in preparation for the removal of nuclear fuel assemblies from its Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor, which is in the process of being decommissioned, only hours after it was started on Sunday morning. (Jiji) Aug 20
About 2,000 people including children are testing their skills at scooping up goldfish in an annual event in Nara prefecture, western Japan.
(NHK)