Alexei Yagudin
The flu outbreak spread across Japan, with many schools across the country being closed. Then-Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's wife, Kumiko, was hospitalized with the virus. Nearly 900,000 people became ill and at least 20 people, including 17 schoolchildren and three elderly people, died due to the flu virus. Many athletes withdrew because of the flu, including Alexei Yagudin, who was infected.