Eating pig liver... Suspected case of Yato disease?

Eating pig liver... Suspected case of Yato disease?

A suspected case of Yatobyeong, a first-class legal infectious disease, has occurred at a restaurant in Suwon.

The health authorities have launched an investigation.

According to Suwon City and others on the 8th, blood test results for Mr. A, a man in his 20s who was hospitalized at a local hospital on the 29th of last month with symptoms of abdominal pain and fever, showed a positive reaction for Yersinia pestis.

Mr. A, a resident of Suwon, complained of symptoms after eating beef liver at a small intestine and beef tripe restaurant near his home on the 24th of the same month. At that time, Mr. A and one companion dined together, but only Mr. A exhibited symptoms. Mr. A's condition improved on the 2nd, and he was discharged from the hospital.

Yato disease occurs when infected with Yato bacteria (Francisella tularensis). It mainly happens through bites or contact with wild rodents, including wild rabbits, or by consuming contaminated food. Human-to-human transmission does not occur.

The overall fatality rate of Yato disease is around 2-8%, but when transmitted through pneumonia or blood, the fatality rate is known to reach 30-60%.

The only confirmed domestic case of Yato disease was reported in December 1996, when a man in his 40s in the northern part of Pohang City, Gyeongbuk, was infected after cooking and eating a wild rabbit on a mountain. The man was cured and discharged after about ten days of hospitalization.