The H1N1 swine flu tally grew to 292 on Thursday after Kyoto confirmed its first case and Tokyo confirmed its third, placing the virus in six prefectures so far.
The first cases in greater Tokyo, two high school students in Tokyo and Kawasaki, put the national and local governments on alert Wednesday for a possible epidemic in the densely populated metropolitan region, which encompasses Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. The third case, a woman in Meguro Ward, was announced Thursday night.
The new flu, locally called "shingata infuruenza" (new-type influenza), "has become substantially widespread inside the country," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe told the Diet Thursday, although the government maintains that Japan is still in the early stages of a domestic outbreak.