Japan's government will stockpile antiviral drugs and help chicken
farmers control bird flu in their flocks as part of an action plan to
combat an outbreak that could kill as many as 640,000 people in Japan,
the government announced Monday.
The release of the plan in Japan, which has not yet suffered a human
death from the virus, came as anxieties over the illness were spurred
by reports over the weekend of new outbreaks in China and Vietnam.
"We need to be sufficiently prepared so we can act promptly in case
bird flu spreads to human beings," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe
told reporters Monday. "Rather than deal with matters after it occurs,
we need to have measures in place beforehand."
A committee including officials from local governments, medical
institutions, and the Health Ministry was to convene on Tuesday to
begin discussions on how to meet the plans' objectives.
The plan outlines the measures to be taken should the current form of
bird flu, which so far has only been transmitted from animals to other
animals or a limited number of humans, were to mutate to a form that
can be transmitted between people.
The ministry's scheme calls for the government to stockpile the
antiviral drug Tamiflu, assist bird keepers to control and eliminate
outbreaks among their flocks, and keep the public alerted to
developments.
The action plan set the targeted size of the Tamiflu stockpile at 25
million doses against the assumption that 32 million people, or 25
percent of the population, would become infected.
The plan says between 170,000 and 640,000 people could die in Japan,
and between 530,000 and 2 million people would be hospitalized. The
current type of bird flu is extremely deadly when transmitted to
humans, killing nearly half those who are infected. But Japanese
health officials said viruses that are transmitted between humans tend
to be less deadly, so that a much larger percentage of people infected
under the government's scenario would survive.
Bird flu hit Japan last year for the first time in decades. There have
been several outbreaks of the dangerous H5N1 variety among birds in
the country, and one confirmed human case in December, but no human
deaths have been reported. Hundreds of thousands of birds have been
culled.
Reports Saturday of two more outbreaks each in China and Vietnam seem
certain to keep the topic in the minds of attendees to the Asian
Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering in South Korea this week. At
least 64 people have died of the virus worldwide.
"We will explain our country's efforts, and I think it is meaningful
to exchange and share information and to talk about measures for bird
flu," Abe said of Japan's discussions with other attendees at APEC.
Most of the people infected have had contact with sick birds. But
health experts worry the virus might develop a mutation that allows it
to spread directly from person to person, setting off a pandemic that
could kill millions.
www.mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp
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