14 August 2013 (12:02 UTC-07 Tango)/07 Shawwal 1434/23 Mordad 1391/08 Geng-Shen (7th month) 4711

A record 133802 people in Japan have been hit with a viral Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD).  That’s the official number as of 28 July, according to Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

The hardest hit area is Tokyo, and it’s mainly children.   Early symptoms are similar to influenza or tummy bug; headaches, vomiting, high fever.  Other symptoms are blurry vision and skin rashes.  If symptoms last more than a couple of days see a doctor, it can develop into meningitis or encephalitis.

The HFMD virus can live in your crap for a long time, so wash your hands you filthy animal.  The human version of hoof & mouth disease is caused mainly by Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6), a type of Enterovirus.  Two years ago there was another recoded breaking outbreak in Japan, but this year’s is already worse than that.

The United Nation’s World Health Organization is reporting that China and Japan are the only Asian countries suffering an increase in HFMD this year.  China (including Macao, but not including Hong Kong) has  already seen 908857 cases, and 188 deaths, as of the end of June.