Hong Kong flu kills six in Japan

November 7, 2010

Six people have died after becoming infected with the virus in the city of  located in the  of northern Japan.

Among the dead were four men and two women, aged 60 to 90 years old. All of them died between Monday November 1, and Friday November 5, while in a local hospital. Dozens more are suspected to be ill with the virus while another 30 others, mostly doctors and other hospital personnel, are being tested for the virus.

Preliminary tests on the patients showed a positive result for the infection while further laboratory tests confirmed the presence of it.

The virus killed nearly 1,000,000 people around the globe in 1968 and 1969. It was a form of the strain of. So far there are no reports of anyone infected outside hospital grounds.