Last of four parts
In November, Samantha Bouton, an assistant language teacher working at a public elementary school in the rural town of Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture, had a fever of 38.5 degrees and was diagnosed as suffering bronchitis.
Because of her illness, Bouton, a 25-year-old U.S. native from Oregon who has been teaching in Japan's public schools since 2004, had to take leave for two weeks.
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