UNCLAS TOKYO 001397

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AIAG AMBASSADOR LANGE
DEPT FOR OES/IHA SINGER AND FENDRICK
DEPT FOR EAP/J
USDA PASS TO APHIS
HHS PASS TO CDC
HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, BHAT AND ELVANDER

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO JA
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT MARCH 16

REF: A. 05 STATE 153802


B. TOKYO 1265 AND PREVIOUS

C. 05 TOKYO 5300

D. 05 TOKYO 3018


1. The following is an update on avian influenza (AI)
developments in Japan for the period March 9 to March 16.
No human or animal outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza were
reported in Japan during the past week.

-- Tests on Migratory Birds Negative for HPAI --


2. The Ministry of Environment (MOE) announced on March 14
that to date, it has not detected highly pathogenic H5 and
H7 avian influenza (HPAI) in migratory birds since it began
testing in 2004. Starting from September 2005, MOE has
conducted tests for the virus on 700 birds collected from 9
different areas including Chiba, Ibaraki, Nagasaki,
Niigata, Fukushima and Okinawa prefectures. The Ministry
did confirm the presence of the H6 low pathogenic avian
influenza (LPAI) virus in the excrement of 21 swans from
the Niigata City area last December, but there have been no
positive results for LPAI in any other migratory birds
since then. MOE plans to continue the tests.

- Nagasaki University links up with Vietnam's NIHE on AI -


3. Nagasaki University has agreed to cooperate with
Vietnam's National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology
(NIHE) in Hanoi to better understand the infection
mechanism of diseases such as avian influenza. As part of
the collaborative effort, the University has acquired
research space at NIHE, and plans to hold an opening
ceremony on March 17. Nagasaki University will dispatch a
professor of virology and a professor of bacteriology to be
resident at the Institute. The collaboration is part of
the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and
Technology's (MEXT) new Infectious Diseases Research
Network (explained further in reftel D). Nagasaki
University plans to focus its efforts on studying avian
influenza. The University will isolate the virus from
patients' blood samples and based on the data acquired,
will research the structure of infection, preventative
measures and the development of new treatment methods.
(For further information on this link up, please refer to
reftel C paras 6-9).


4. EST FSN confirmed with MEXT's Life Sciences Division
that Tokyo University's Institute for Medical Sciences and
Osaka University's Research Institute for Microbial
Diseases are also working to establish joint research
centers and increase tie-ups in China and Thailand,
respectively. Osaka University has been working in
Thailand since August of last year, and Tokyo University
plans to open shared research space in China starting this
May.

-- Research Team Develops Method to Detect H-t-H AI --


5. A joint research team from Shizuoka University, the
University of Shizuoka and the Yamasa Corporation has
announced that it has developed a method to detect human-to-
human transmissible pandemic influenza at an early stage.
The new method, which identifies changes in the avian
influenza virus's structure, is 50 times more sensitive
than currently available methods. The team will cooperate
with the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID)
to evaluate the method's performance in order to be able to
use it for surveillance in affected areas.

SCHIEFFER