JAPAN AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE

UNCLAS TOKYO 000882 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AIAG AMBASSADOR LANGE DEPT FOR OES/IHA COMELLA DEPT FOR EAP/J USDA PASS TO APHIS HHS PASS TO CDC HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER AND HICKEY DEPT PASS TO AID/GH/HIDN DENNIS CARROLL SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI CASC JA SUBJECT: JAPAN AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE REF: A. 05 STATE 153802 ¶B. 08 TOKYO 246 AND PREVIOUS ¶C. 06 TOKYO 2135 ¶1. No human or animal outbreaks of H5N1 Avian Influenza (AI) were reported in Japan during the period of January 30 to March 31 2008. Japanese research team develops a new PI vaccine. -------------- -------------- ¶2. A Japanese research team has developed a new vaccine for pandemic influenza, which can respond quickly to the influenza virus despite minor modifications of DNA sequences, according to an article in the March 12 Asahi Shimbun. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) funded the team, consisting of researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID),Hokkaido University, and the Research Foundation for Microbial Disease of Osaka University. Team leader Dr. Hideki Hasegawa of NIID told ECON LES that the team developed the nasal-spray vaccine using a H5N1 virus from a human case in Vietnam in 2004 and Ampligen as adjuvant. Using tests on mice and monkeys, the team confirmed the vaccine is effective for multiple H5N1 virus strains including, the Hong Kong H5N1 strain of 1997 and the Indonesian H5N1 strain of 2005. The new vaccine is expected to respond to a pandemic influenza developed by modification of the H5N1 virus. The team will conduct further animal tests for two years to confirm its safety and hopes to start a clinical test on humans in Japanese fiscal year 2010. SCHIEFFER