AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT MAY 11

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002572 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 DEPT PASS TO AID/GH/HIDN DENNIS CARROLL SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO JA SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT MAY 11 REF: A. 05 STATE 153802 ¶B. TOKYO 2438 AND PREVIOUS ¶C. STATE 69310 TOKYO 00002572 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. The following is an update on avian influenza (AI) developments in Japan for the period May 2 to 11. No human or animal outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza were reported in Japan during the above period. -- Japan-ASEAN Initiative to Combat Pandemic Influenza Launched -- ¶2. On May 2, the GOJ launched the Japan-ASEAN Initiative to Combat Pandemic Influenza in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Deputy Minister Mitoji Yabunaka presented a list of goods that will be procured by Tokyo to help combat a pandemic influenza outbreak to ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong. The Initiative is one SIPDIS part of Japan's USD 70 million ASEAN integration project that was announced in December 2005 by Prime Minister Koizumi and is the first project to be funded by the Japan- ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). ¶3. The first shipment of the antiviral Tamiflu and personal protective equipment has already been stockpiled in Singapore. Over the next several months, Tokyo will send additional shipments to bring the stockpile up to a total of 500,000 courses of the drug and 700,000 sets of PPE. The drugs and protective gear (masks, gowns, gloves, antiseptic solution, investigative kits) will be available as part of early AI containment efforts for quick dispatch to the region's countries during an outbreak. -- GOJ Informed of U.S. Plan Rollout -- ¶4. On May 10, EST M/C informed Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs Takashi Toguchi of the completion and rollout of the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza per ref C. Toguchi welcomed the news and told EST M/C that MHLW officials were closely studying the full document. EST M/C left several documents relating to the plan with the Assistant Minister. -- Okayama Forms New NPO to Train Burmese Doctors on AI, Other Diseases -- ¶5. A group of Okayama Prefecture-based health experts established a non-profit organization called The Japan- Burma Medical Professionals' Training Support Association to assist with the training of Burmese doctors and nurses. Okayama University plans to train approximately ten Burmese exchange students per year in modern medical procedures. Dr. Shigeru Okada, professor emeritus at the university, created the NPO to follow up on his extensive work in Burma on improving blood examination techniques. He hopes the association will provide a venue where information can be exchanged on avian influenza and other infectious diseases, with the ultimate goal of boosting medical capacity in the country. -- Japan to Breed Domestic Parent Stock Chickens -- ¶6. At a press conference on May 9, Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shoichiro Nakagawa said that he would encourage the development of a superior breed of domestic Japanese chickens in order to reduce the risk Japanese poultry producers face by depending on a limited number of countries for parent and grandparent stock. In JFY2005, Japan imported a total of one million live chickens from the UK, France, the U.S., Germany and the Netherlands. Because of restrictions on poultry imports from Europe due to recent avian influenza outbreaks there, Japan is currently able to import only 20 percent of the chickens it usually acquires from overseas. TOKYO 00002572 002.2 OF 002 SCHIEFFER