Evidence emerged Saturday that dengue fever is spreading throughout the capital after an infected Tokyo man said he hadn't recently visited either of the parks so far linked to the virus, and the case tally grew overnight to 74.

The man, in his 60s, said he did not recently visit either Yoyogi Park or Shinjuku Chuo Park, the two hot spots identified as having mosquitoes carrying the virus, the health ministry said.

The others infected said they had spent time in or near Yoyogi Park, except for a Saitama man identified Friday who said he was bitten by mosquitoes in Shinjuku Chuo Park, west of Shinjuku Station and just north of Yoyogi.

The ministry said the man in his 60s had not been overseas nor outside of Tokyo recently. But he cannot remember where he was bitten. He is in a stable condition.

The gene sequences of the virus found in the man are the same as those found in those who got infected in Yoyogi and Shinjuku Chuo parks. Authorities are now trying to establish where he could have picked up the virus.

Japan is experiencing the first cases of domestic infection of dengue fever since 1945. The virus that causes the illness is transmitted by mosquitoes and cannot spread directly from person to person.