ABSTRACT
Although a large number of cases of yersiniosis have been reported in European countries and both the clinical features and epidemiologic aspects of the disease were mostly clarified during the last two decades. Yersinia infections had not been noted at all in Japan until 1972 when Zen-Yoji and Maruyama reported the first isolation of Yersinia enterocolitica from sporadic cases with enteritis and from the intestinal contents of two autopsy cases with death due to infection. Comparison of the occurrence of yersiniosis in Japan with its occurrence in other countries, especially in Europe and North America, showed remarkable differences in the epidemiology. In Japan the first report of Y. enterocolitica infection in humans was presented by Zen-Yoji and Maruyama in 1972. In Japan, the incidence of Y. pseudotuberculosis infection has been significantly rare not only in animals, but also in humans, as compared to Europe where human and animal infections with the bacterium occurred frequently.
