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