Aso vows to protect people against swine flu

TOKYO, April 27 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Taro Aso vowed Monday to protect people in Japan against a
possible swine flu pandemic, calling the situation ''an emergency,'' as the
government stepped up vigilance against the disease by tightening quarantine
and immigration checks.
The premier told a House of Councillors plenary session that the government
will make ''all-out efforts'' to ensure public safety following a response
policy set by a crisis meeting of his Cabinet earlier in the day.
The government has not received any reports of swine flu infections in Japan,
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said.
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe also said during the upper
house meeting he will make sure correct information will be provided to the
public, municipalities and medical workers, so that they will try to prevent
infections ''calmly.''
The death toll suspected of being attributable to swine flu has risen to 103 in
Mexico, while the number of infections in the United States rose to 20 and six
cases were reported in Canada. A case of infection has been confirmed in Spain
as well, according to AP.
Flu-like symptoms have been detected among 13 New Zealand high school students
following a trip to the Latin American country.
The health ministry decided Monday that quarantine doctors will inspect
airplanes arriving from Mexico at Narita International Airport, serving Tokyo.
It also urged those who had stayed in the country in the past 10 days to
consult quarantine officers.
The education ministry said it may ask travelers and students who are going to
study in areas where the flu infections have been reported to cancel their
plans. A Japanese school in Mexico City with 107 students has been closed due
to the epidemic, according to the ministry.
At Narita airport, passengers were purchasing medical masks at drugstores to
help protect themselves.
Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry briefed anti-disaster, crisis management
officials from the nation's 47 prefectures on the flu situation at a conference
in Tokyo.
The ministry told them what actions they could expect of the Self-Defense
Forces if the situation gets worse, including the dispatch of SDF doctors to
airports for quarantine and the transportation of aid supplies to badly
affected areas, a ministry official said.
Matsuya Foods Co. said Monday the restaurant chain will temporarily remove a
dish using Mexican pork from its menu, saying the company will resume sales
after confirming safety of the meat on its own although it has been already
certified as safe under government guidelines. The government says the virus
dies when heated, and the possibility of the virus adhering to imported pork is
low.
Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano has suggested he is ready to take budgetary
steps, if necessary, to counter swine flu.
At the crisis Cabinet meeting, the government decided to strengthen the support
system for Japanese living overseas, including Mexico, while providing medical
care to those who enter Japan from related countries and are infected or feared
to be infected with swine flu.
On Saturday, the World Health Organization advised all nations to be on the
lookout for unusual outbreaks of flu following reports of swine flu infections
in humans in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
==Kyodo