Aso calls for calm response as new flu infections exceed 5000 in Japan

[tyto]

Tokyo (Japan Broadcasting Corporation-NHK)

Three students from the same senior high school have tested positive for the new influenza in a local lab test in Kobe, western Japan. The students have never been abroad. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases is to test their samples for final confirmation.

Kobe authorities say the new flu virus was detected in samples from the students - a 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old boy and girl. If it is confirmed that the students are infected, their cases will be the first to be found in Japan outside quarantine checks at ports of entry.

Kobe authorities are checking whether other students at the school have a fever and other flu conditions while investigating how the three contracted the disease.

2009/05/16 10:36(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/flu.html

[SuperNova1987A]

A(H1N1) Infection inside Japan

A high school student in Kobe, who had no history of overseas travel, was found infected with A(H1N1) virus, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases confirmed just a moment ago. Two other students of the same school were also tested positive by Kobe-city.
It is not known how the student were infected but since he had not gone to foreign countries, it is possible that the virus was transmitted from an infected person in Japan. This is the first discovery of an infection inside the territory.
His school is different from the high school in Osaka of which three students and a teacher were infected with A(H1N1) and isolated at Narita Airport.


__________________________________
SN1987A

[HenryN]

Re: Three Kobe high school students may have new flu

The four existing cases are here

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://flutracker.rhiza.com">Maps</a>

The three new cases will be added in the next update.

[Laidback Al]

Re: Three Kobe high school students may have new flu

Japan confirms its first domestic infection of new flu

2009-05-16 11:20:21

TOKYO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan's first domestic case of infection with the H1N1 strain of influenza A virus was confirmed Saturday, the health ministry said. The patient is a 17-year-old male high school student in Kobe city, Hyogo Prefecture, who has no record of overseas travel, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The student's family members have shown no sign of symptoms of flu A/H1N1 infection.
It is the first confirmed case in the country after four patients were found infected at an airport after returning from the United States on May 8.
Two other senior high school students from the city -- one male and one female also with no record of overseas travel -- have also tested positive for the new flu in local laboratory tests, Kyodo News quoted the Kobe municipal government as saying.
The government's health watchdog is analyzing the specimens taken from them at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/16/content_11383587.htm

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

Eight Japan school students positive for swine flu

Japan said eight high school students had tested positive for swine flu on Saturday amid fears the virus was spreading in schools in at least two cities where scores of students said they felt ill.

The eight confirmed cases were all students at a high school in the western city of Kobe, and another nine school students were considered suspected cases in nearby Osaka city, local officials said.

Prime Minister Taro Aso called on Japan's people to stay level-headed and vowed to take steps to prevent a wider outbreak, speaking after Japan's domestic infection, a 17-year-old boy, was confirmed in the morning.

"Please act calmly while being on alert," Aso said. "The government will carry out thorough inspections on the patients and on the people close to them. We will take action to stop the infection from spreading."

But former World Health Organisation senior official Shigeru Omi, now head of the government's special swine flu task force, warned that "we believe that the infection is beginning to spread in the region."

The WHO said the Japanese cases needed to be investigated.

"It is something we are looking at but we need to have an investigation... it will take some time to examine it," WHO spokesman Dick Thomson told AFP in Geneva.

By evening, seven more cases had been confirmed in Kobe.

In nearby Osaka, prefectural official Tomoko Kato said a teenage girl had also tested positive, and her samples had been sent to the national institute of infectious disease for final confirmation.

"Eight more high school students also tested positive and their specimens are under closer inspection for final confirmation," she told AFP.

"In addition, about 100 high school students in the same high school had suspicious symptoms such as fever, so they are to be tested further."

The Jiji Press news agency meanwhile reported that in a junior high school annexed to the Osaka high school, 47 students aged between 12 and 15 had been absent from classes recently.

Japan on May 9 confirmed its first A(H1N1) cases contracted overseas -- a school teacher and three students who flew to Tokyo from Canada via Detroit -- but immediately quarantined them and other passengers.

All four have since recovered and are either out of hospital or due to leave soon, while another 48 passengers who sat near them on the plane have also been allowed to go home after being isolated in a hotel for one week.

The latest cases sparked fears in Kobe, where authorities said they would temporarily close at least 75 schools and kindergartens and cancel festivals and other public events in some districts.

"It's totally beyond our imagination," said Seiichi Sakurai, of the city's health and welfare bureau. "The virus entered the country undetected. I'm afraid the infection may have already spread further."

Reiko Hamuro, a 42-year-old transport company employee, said: "All of a sudden, people started wearing masks today. It's scary because the cases came without any warning signs. I will try to avoid crowds."

http://news.id.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3318523

[tyto]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

TOKYO (Japan Broadcasting Corporation-NHK)

9 high school students in Osaka have flu (more domestic cases)

In Osaka, western Japan, 9 more students have tested positive for new influenza. The total number of those who have not traveled overseas recently and still were infected is now 17.

The Health Ministry is investigating how the flu has spread. It suspects that school activities may have contributed. The ministry says the 9 students from a high school in Ibaragi city, Osaka, tested positive for type A influenza. Local authorities conducted genetic tests on their samples and found new influenza virus.

The National Institute of Infectious Disease tested the samples and confirmed that the genetic sequence matches that of the new flu virus.
The Health Ministry suspects the infection may have taken place in school activities and plans to conduct further tests on other students who have symptoms, such as fever, to find out the scale of the infection and how it has spread.

2009/05/17 10:45(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/17_13.html

[Laidback Al]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

13 students confirmed infected with new flu in Japan

2009-05-17 10:12:38

TOKYO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 13 students in Japan were confirmed to have been infected with the new strain of influenza A, the health ministry and local authorities said Sunday, bringing the total number of infections in Japan to 25. The 13 students, 12 from a high school in Osaka Prefecture and one in Hyogo Prefecture, had no record of overseas travel. The confirmation follows the discovery of Japan's first eight domestic cases of the new flu in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, which adjoins Osaka, on Saturday.
Japan found the first four cases of infection on travelers who returned from North America.
<table style="width: 176px; height: 11px;" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="176" height="11"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 12px;"></td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 12px;">

A notification to reinforce prevention of A/H1N1 flu is seen at a local hospital in Kobe city, Japan, May 16, 2009. Japan's first domestic case of A/H1N1 flu was confirmed on Saturday. The patient is a 17-year-old male high school student in Kobe city, who has no records of overseas travel, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. (Xinhua)
Photo Gallery>>>

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The 12 in Osaka Prefecture are from the Kansai Okura Senior High School in the city of Ibaraki. About 110 students at the high school have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday, according to local media reports.
The health ministry said the patients are recovering at local hospitals.
The Japanese government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from "a period of overseas outbreak" to "an early period of domestic outbreak" and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.
The Kyodo News quoted Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization's emergency committee, as saying that several hundred people in Japan already may have been infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/17/content_11388241.htm

[Evelyn]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

http://kasdanfamily.blogspot.com/200...hits-kobe.html

The Kasdan Family Blog
Michael, Ilena, Jacob, and Lauren moved to Kobe, Japan in January, 2008. We will be here until the middle of 2009. Join us as we chronicle our family's daily life and adventures.

May 16, 2009
H1N1 Flu Panic Hits Kobe
Argh.

We just found out that Kobe has its first case of H1N1 flu, and it is a teenager who has not traveled outside of Japan. The local reaction has been to close all public schools in the Kobe/Osaka area. Private schools have also been asked to be closed. Jacob and Lauren's school will be closed for the week. We also hear that Kobe Matsuri, a huge parade event in Kobe to take place on Sunday, has been canceled.

It all certainly seems like a bit much (and the local press, we hear, has been in a state of panicked hysteria), but in this ultra-careful, mask-wearing, quarantining culture, it is an unsurprising measure. (How closing schools is really going to help anything is a mystery to us, since people will still be interacting, going shopping, going to work, etc.)

Certainly, with less than five reported cases in all of Japan, we are not freaking out (certainly it seems a heck of a lot "safer" being here than being in the U.S.!), but we shall see how it all plays out.

[Laidback Al]

Re: Japan: 21 high school students confirmed with A(H1N1) in two different schools

Welcome to FluTrackers, Evelyn.

Thanks for the post to the Kasdan Family Blog. Things are moving fast in Japan. The blog discusses five reported cases in Japan, but that was yesterday. As note in the post above there are now more than 20 high school students infected.

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Japan: 21 high school students confirmed with A(H1N1) in two different schools

Welcome Evelyn!

[Evelyn]

Re: Japan: 21 high school students confirmed with A(H1N1) in two different schools

Yes, unfortunately. Maybe the blog will give us a "view from the ground" in the coming days. Thanks for the welcome!

[Evelyn]

Re: Japan: 21 high school students confirmed with A(H1N1) in two different schools

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...429817/1/.html

Asia Pacific News

Nine Japanese students test positive for H1N1 flu
Posted: 17 May 2009 1243 hrs

TOKYO: Japan said Sunday that nine more high school students had tested positive for H1N1 flu, bringing the total number of domestic infections to 17 amid fears the virus has a foothold in the community.

The latest confirmed cases are all students in Osaka prefecture in western Japan, a health ministry official told AFP.

Eight students had previously tested positive in Kobe, in the adjoining prefecture of Hyogo.

"We've confirmed a total of nine new cases in Osaka prefecture, and are in the process of testing one more case," the official said, adding work was ongoing to gather information on the route of the infection through interviews with doctors and families of the patients.

The new cases come as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Saturday it is closely monitoring H1N1 flu in Japan after officials ordered schools closed and cancelled events in Kobe.

A local official in Osaka said: "So far we can't find clear records of contacts with students in Osaka and students in Kobe, and they have not travelled abroad recently."

In Osaka, about 100 more high school students who had displayed suspicious symptoms such as fever are to be tested, officials said.

Meanwhile seven more people are suspected to be infected with H1N1 flu in Hyogo prefecture, officials said.

These people - a teacher, a university student and five high school students - had recently had contact with one of the students in Kobe who tested positive, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Masato Tashiro, a Japanese virologist who is in Geneva as a member of the WHO's panel on the epidemic, told public broadcaster NHK: "I don't know specifics about the cases (in Japan) but judging from confirmed cases the infection is likely to be spreading to hundreds of people."

"There must be a number of people who slipped through border controls (at airports) as their symptoms were quite light, passing the virus to other people before they knew it," he said.

Prime Minister Taro Aso has called on the country to keep calm.

But former WHO senior official Shigeru Omi, now head of the government's special H1N1 flu task force, warned that "we believe that the infection is beginning to spread in the region."

Japan on May 9 confirmed its first A(H1N1) cases contracted overseas - a school teacher and three students who flew to Tokyo from Canada via Detroit - but immediately quarantined them and other passengers.

All four have since recovered.

- AFP/yb

[tropical]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

The local reaction has been to close all public schools in the Kobe/Osaka area. Private schools have also been asked to be closed. Jacob and Lauren's school will be closed for the week. We also hear that Kobe Matsuri, a huge parade event in Kobe to take place on Sunday, has been canceled.

It all certainly seems like a bit much (and the local press, we hear, has been in a state of panicked hysteria), but in this ultra-careful, mask-wearing, quarantining culture, it is an unsurprising measure. (How closing schools is really going to help anything is a mystery to us, since people will still be interacting, going shopping, going to work, etc.)
...
(certainly it seems a heck of a lot "safer" being here than being in the U.S.!), but we shall see how it all plays out.

Hello Evelyn,

You are more lucky to live in a place which at least give more chances to deminish the spread of this virus.

There is no mystery how the closure of schools will help.

The majority of out of Mexico 2nd grade spreading actualy results from schools/Universities pupils and their's teachers.

So it is perfectly logic and good to close such spreading places, and gatherings.

At the same time, there are other places you highlights as the working places, to be filtered which are neccessary to be open, and the others giv'em an min. payed holliday period, to slow at the begining - when it has still probabilities, than when the illness is already overspreaded as in many other countries schools.

Ther will be enaugh time later if things goes much more wrong, to give up from inner places closures.

My best health and pandemic vanishing wishes.

[tropical]

Re: Kobe high school students confirmed with A(H1N1)

...
"It's totally beyond our imagination," said Seiichi Sakurai, of the city's health and welfare bureau. "The virus entered the country undetected. I'm afraid the infection may have already spread further."

Reiko Hamuro, a 42-year-old transport company employee, said: "All of a sudden, people started wearing masks today. It's scary because the cases came without any warning signs. I will try to avoid crowds."

http://news.id.msn.com/regional/arti...mentid=3318523

That's why an country which consisted of islands only,

had to instaurate entering real quarantines on ships an plains at this early pandemic begining, instead of thermal detectors, etc, which can't locate the asymptomatic infected carriers.

Traveling must be narrowed to cargo and strictly neccessary business, subject to desinfection and quarantine.

If the country insist with touristic travels, they must have additional 10 days of entering quarantine at the hotels ...

[HenryN]

Re: Japan: 21 high school students confirmed with A(H1N1) in two different schools

Japan confirms 13 more swine flu cases

Total cases at 25
By Shingo Ito
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 09:12:00 05/17/2009

Filed Under: Health, Swine Flu


KOBE--(UPDATE) Japan said Sunday that 13 more high school students had tested positive for swine flu, bringing the total number of cases here to 25 amid fears the virus has a foothold in the west of the country.
The latest confirmed flu sufferers are all students in Osaka prefecture or in the city of Kobe in neighboring Hyogo prefecture, where eight students were already ill from the virus, a health ministry official told AFP.
"Now the number of cases of domestic infection has risen to 21," the official said.
"We've confirmed a total of nine new cases in Osaka prefecture, and four more cases in Kobe city."
Four other Japanese -- a school teacher and three students who flew to Tokyo from Canada via Detroit -- contracted the virus overseas earlier this month and have since recovered.
"We quickly need to collect information on the current infection," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, the top government spokesman.
"We are studying how to prevent the spread of infection," Kawamura told reporters, adding that the cabinet would hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the issue.
Prime Minister Taro Aso has called on the country to remain calm.
But Shigeru Omi, a former senior official at the World Health Organization who is now head of the government's special swine flu task force, warned: "We believe that the infection is beginning to spread in the region."
The WHO said Saturday it was closely monitoring the swine flu situation in Japan after officials shut down schools and cancelled public events in Kobe, where people with flu symptoms were seeking treatment at local hospitals.
"I had never dreamed that the new type flu outbreak would happen in my city," said Seiji Koga, a 62-year-old construction company worker. "Since we can't move away, we have to spend restless days for now."
About 100 more high school students in Osaka and seven people in Hyogo prefecture who had displayed suspicious symptoms were to be tested, officials said.
"So far we can't find clear records of contacts with students in Osaka and students in Kobe, and they have not traveled abroad recently," said one local official in Osaka.
The seven people in Hyogo -- a teacher, a university student and five high school students -- had recently had contact with one of the students in Kobe who tested positive, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Masato Tashiro, a Japanese virologist who serves on an WHO panel on the epidemic, told public broadcaster NHK: "I don't know specifics about the cases (in Japan) but judging from confirmed cases the infection is likely to be spreading to hundreds of people."
"There must be a number of people who slipped through border controls (at airports) as their symptoms were quite light, passing the virus to other people before they knew it," he said.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20090517-205484/Japan-confirms-13-more-swine-flu-cases