Narita airport hatches plan to repel flu

[Shiloh]

Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081228a4.html

Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008

Narita airport hatches plan to repel flu
Kyodo News

The operator of Narita International Airport near Tokyo has outlined an action plan to interdict the inflow of new types of influenza, sources close to the plan said Saturday.

The action plan compiled by Narita International Airport Corp. calls for ensuring the safety of passengers and airport officials by stockpiling 10,000 pills of the flu-fighting drug Tamiflu and 50,000 flu masks, the sources said.

The action plan may serve as a model response guideline against new types of influenza at other major airports, since the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will limit incoming flights from infected countries to four airports ? Narita, Kansai, Chubu and Fukuoka airports.

To ensure runway operations continue smoothly in the event a new type of flu breaks out at the airport, the action plan proposes training more air traffic controllers.

The airport's basic operations will be maintained even in the event of an outbreak, the action plan says, citing the need to admit passengers on planes flying from infected countries and to expedite rescue operations making use of airplanes, such as airlifting of aid goods.

The action plan also recommends the operator ensure it has a way of raising money, such as bank loans, in case it is threatened by a large revenue decline sparked by a prolonged pandemic, the sources said. It has been said that a new flu takes at least a year to run its course once detected.

Narita airport plans to work out specific measures based on the action plan by the end of next May, the sources said.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Narita airport hatches plan to repel flu

Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090130a5.html

Friday, Jan. 30, 2009

Drug poisoning mistaken for bird flu case at Narita airport

NARITA, Chiba Pref. (Kyodo) Medical and immigration staff at Narita International Airport were put on high alert Jan. 22 when a Taiwanese passenger arriving from Hong Kong collapsed with a fever and was suspected of having a new type of bird flu, it was learned Thursday.

A medical examination, however, found that the man was suffering from drug poisoning after having swallowed about 90 pouches containing illegal stimulants.

The man went into convulsions and fell into a coma in a customs inspections area after arriving on a Cathay Pacific flight, and a preliminary medical test indicated he was possibly suffering bird flu.

Officials briefly quarantined customs and immigration officers who were in contact with the man and closed an airport clinic that conducted the initial tests. A detailed exam later pointed to drug poisoning.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Narita airport hatches plan to repel flu

Source: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/japan/2009/01/30/193905/Japan-nabs.htm

Updated Friday, January 30, 2009 9:25 am TWN, The China Post news staff
Japan nabs Taiwanese suspected of carrying virus for trafficking
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A Taiwanese man who was stopped by quarantine staff members at Japan's major international airport after he was suspected of carrying the human pandemic influenza virus was instead found to be suffering from a drug overdose, local media reported yesterday.

The man collapsed while waiting to pass through immigration upon his arrival last Thursday at Narita International Airport, and was sent to the airport's medical center with a high fever and other flu-like symptoms.

Preliminary tests turned up positive for human pandemic influenza, a new strain of influenza virus that spreads quickly among humans with little or no immunity against it.

The results caused airport security personnel to immediately track down every person the man had been in contact with and quarantine them for observation. All areas where the man had passed through were also closed down and disinfected.

Later tests performed by a hospital in Narita, the eastern part of the Greater Tokyo Area, indicated negative results to the particular strain of influenza.

Further investigation uncovered he had actually swallowed a large number of amphetamine pills in his attempt to smuggle the illegal drugs into the country.

Japanese police arrested the man on charges of drug possession and trafficking.

 

[Giuseppe]

Re: Narita airport hatches plan to repel flu

The ingestion of illicit drugs enclosed into small plastic containers is quite common in various part of the world when accidental smugglers are trying to pass borders.

Frequently, containers' rupture causes severe damage to smugglers' health, with development of life-threatening conditions such as Malignant Neuroleptic Syndrome or Serotoninergic Syndrome (the case of Metamphetamine ingestion).

High fever (more than 39?C, sometimes above 40?C), hyperthermia, convulsions, loss of consciousness are among the features of these conditions.

How can a rapid test for Influenza A have resulted positive in this Japanese incident remain to be established, but previously another case regarding a Vietnamese smuggler got attention by media sources.

One may argue that this is a prototypical scenario for showing the level of preparedness at Japanese borders.