AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT JUNE 1

UNCLAS TOKYO 003008 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 JUNE 1 REF: A) 05 STATE 153802; B) TOKYO 2907 AND PREVIOUS C) TOKYO 2135; D) TOKYO 1112 ¶1. The following is an update of avian influenza (AI) developments in Japan for the period May 25 to June 1. No human or animal outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza were reported in Japan during this period. H5N1 Designated As Government-Decreed "Quarantinable" Infectious Disease -------------- -------------- ¶2. On May 30, Japan's Diet approved the government's request to designate the H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza as a government-decreed infectious disease. The legislative body also agreed to designate the strain as a government-decreed quarantinable infectious disease. This will be only the second time an emerging or reemerging infectious disease received such a designation since SARS was first designated in 2003. The new designation will take full effect on June 12. For further details see Tokyo ¶2135. Importation of French Chickens to Resume -------------- ¶3. Vice Minister Aoi Ishihara of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) indicated a possible lift of the ban on the importation of French poultry meat and guts at a press conference on May 25. MAFF learned that preventive measures in the affected areas in France were completed on March 18. Based on this information, MAFF will allow a resumption of imports starting around June 20, 90 days after the completion of the preventive measures. MAFF banned the importation on February 24. For further details see Tokyo 1112. SCHIEFFER