AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT MARCH 16

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