AVIAN INFLUENZA: TOKYO WEEKLY FEBRUARY 2

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000594

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TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO JA
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: TOKYO WEEKLY FEBRUARY 2

REF: A. 05 STATE 153802

B. TOKYO 435 AND PREVIOUS

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1. No human outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza (AI) were
reported in Japan during the past week.

-- MHLW Briefing on AI to Diplomatic Community --


2. On January 26, ESToff attended a Diplomatic Briefing
Session hosted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
(MHLW) during which the Ministry's Tuberculosis and
Infectious Diseases Control Office gave an overview of the
GOJ's Pandemic Preparedness Action Plan. MHLW has released
an English translation of its 79-page plan which can be
found on the Ministry's website:
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/influenz a/index.html


3. The official presenting explained that MHLW released the
plan in mid-November (first reported in 05 Tokyo 6267) and
starting in December, the plan was applied to all GOJ
ministries and agencies. It is based on the assumption
that up to 25 million individuals will become infected by
H5N1 during a pandemic in Japan, and is divided into two
major operational phases addressing the measures that are
necessary to prevent an outbreak and those that are needed
after an outbreak occurs.


4. As reported by Embassy Tokyo earlier, Japan is currently
in phase 3-A, or "human infection with a new subtype, but
no human-to-human spread, no infection in Japan." The
action plan calls for the following steps to be taken
during this phase (additional comments made by the briefing
official follow in parenthesis):

- Develop the government's action plQ. (This process is
mostly complete).
- Alert overseas travelers. (The GOJ has been doing this
by posting information at Quarantine Stations and on the
Ministry's website.)
- Ensure preventative measures against the outbreak of
highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry flocks,
particularly through guidance and support of farmers in the
implementation of prevention measures. (The Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has the lead here.)
- Manufacture and stock a prototype vaccine source for
the possible need of vaccination, and plan measures to
secure eggs for the production of vaccines in the case of a
pandemic. (The Ministry is now studying ways to ensure an
adequate supply of eggs. Relating to the issue of
vaccines, ESToff asked if the Ministry was actively
researching cell-based vaccine production, but the official
only mentioned egg-based vaccines in her response.)
- Determine the amount of oseltamivir phosphate (a.k.a.
Tamiflu) to be secured and stockpile it. (MHLW has already
allocated a budget for this).
- Strengthen the capacity of designated medical
facilities that are responsible for the care and treatment
of new influenza patients and request that they secure the
necessary medical materials. (Local governments are
working to strengthen their capacity to deal with a
pandemic).
- Provide information on HPAI to Japanese citizens as
well as Japanese residing in countries where the outbreak
is observed.


5. The briefing official said that MHLW is currently in the
process of developing more detailed guidelines to
supplement the plan and is working on preparing for the
next phase (or 4/4A). She asked the representatives of the
twenty-three countries in attendance for their cooperation
in sharing information on national plans and the virus in
the future.

-- Clinical Trials on AI Vaccine to Begin Soon --


6. On January 29, the Yomiuri Newspaper reported that the
National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) along with
Japan's four vaccine producers would begin clinical trials

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of a prototype avian influenza vaccine sometime this month.
Though it is difficult to produce an effective pandemic
influenza vaccine without the actual virus, NIID has
determined that it is still useful to stockpile a prototype
to be used in an emergency to inoculate medical workers on
a priority basis. If everything goes according to plan,
the expectation is that the GOJ would give its approval to
produce the vaccine by 2007.


7. Because the makers cannot manufacture the prototype
vaccine between April and September - or the manufacturing
period for the seasonal flu vaccine - they would like to
begin preparations for pandemic vaccine production starting
this Fall even before the government issues its approval.
In addition, because the virus has the ability to easily
mutate, the researchers plan to use the most recent
Indonesia strain of H5N1.

-- AI Quick Detection Kit --


8. MHLW has started work on developing a test kit to detect
the possible presence of pandemic influenza within ten to
fifteen minutes. The kit can indicate a possible infection
by testing mucus taken from the back of the throat. The
Ministry believes that prompt diagnosis will help medical
authorities detect AI patients quickly and would be useful
to prevent pandemic influenza from spreading widely. The
National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) will lead
the project. NIID aims to reach the final stages of
development for the technology by April 2006.

SCHIEFFER