ID :
58264
Thu, 04/30/2009 - 07:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/58264
The shortlink copeid
No suspected flu cases detected on direct flight from Mexico+
TOKYO, April 29 Kyodo - Japanese quarantine officials found no suspected cases of swine flu infections Wednesday after carrying out inspections aboard the first direct flight arriving in Japan from Mexico since the alert for a global influenza pandemic was raised to an unprecedented level.
Seven inspectors wearing protective clothing and masks walked through the
arrival gate and onto an AeroMexico flight that arrived at Narita airport at
6:30 a.m. with 185 passengers and 13 crew members aboard. They were given the
all-clear, according to officials of the health ministry's quarantine office at
the airport.
Japan has yet to have either a confirmed or suspected case of the swine flu in
the epidemic, which originated in Mexico, where the country's health ministry
said the death toll of suspected cases has risen to more than 150.
According to a Reuters report, a U.S. government official confirmed the first
death in the country from the new flu Wednesday -- also the first death from
swine flu reported outside Mexico. A 23-month-old child reportedly died in
Texas from the flu. U.S. officials have confirmed 65 cases of swine flu, most
of them mild, the report said.
At Narita airport, one Japanese man complained of throat pain during the
inspections and was briefly isolated from the others, only to return with
negative results after inspectors conducted a simple test using a portable kit.
Passengers said about 20 people who were seated around the man got into an
uproar when an inspector told them that they would likely have to remain on the
plane for about six hours if he tested positive. Eventually, all the passengers
and crew got off the Boeing 777 about an hour after its arrival.
Among the passengers were family members of a Japanese corporate employee
stationed in Mexico, as well as a Japanese professional boxer who regularly
fights in the country.
''They have closed the Japanese school for our daughters and we decided to
return to Japan after the alert level was raised,'' said a 38-year-old
housekeeper who arrived on the plane with two daughters.
The boxer, Tomoki Kameda, said about one in 10 people were wearing masks in
Mexico City shortly before he left the country, cutting short his training and
fight schedules there.
''I was wearing a mask myself because I was worried (about the flu). My family
got worried too so I returned to Japan ahead of schedule,'' said 17-year-old
Kameda, the youngest of the three popular Kameda boxing brothers.
Officers from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry began in-flight quarantine
inspections Tuesday at the Narita and Kansai airports after the World Health
Organization raised the alert level to phase 4 on Monday, amid reports that the
swine flu epidemic was spreading on a global scale.
A number of travelers left Japanese airports for various overseas destinations
as Japan's Golden Week holidays started Wednesday.
Many travelers seemed concerned about the outbreak of the new flu overseas.
Daido Uchida, a 43-year-old company worker from Yao, Osaka Prefecture, was
about to leave Kansai airport for San Francisco for work.
''Since a friend in the United States told me that surgical masks were out of
stock in many drugstores, I bought them in Japan,'' he said.
Despite growing concerns about a possible pandemic of the new flu, some
tourists appear composed.
A 38-year-old company employee from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, said at
Kansai airport, ''I heard (the new flu) is less virulent and it's of no use if
I keep worrying about.''
''The possibility of dying in a traffic accident is much higher,'' said the man
who plans to enjoy driving in San Francisco.
Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmissions of the virus
and can cause community-level outbreaks. It is two levels shy from the highest,
phase 6, which is issued for a full-blown global pandemic.
Cuba and Argentina have reportedly suspended direct flights from Mexico because
of the swine flu outbreak there.
Meanwhile, Japanese health minister Yoichi Masuzoe called anew for calm
response to spread of the disease.
''I advise you to wash your hands and gargle when you get home, and you should
go to hospitals or clinics or consult with public health centers if you have
the smallest of worries about the flu,'' Masuzoe said in a speech at a trade
union rally in Tokyo. ''You're required to behave calmly.''
Mexico's health ministry said Tuesday that 2,498 suspected cases of swine flu
have been reported and the new virus is suspected in 159 deaths, seven more
from the previously reported figure. Costa Rican and German authorities said
the same day they have confirmed the countries' first cases of swine flu.
Outbreaks of the new flu in humans have also been confirmed in the United
States, New Zealand, Canada, Britain, Spain and Israel, while suspected cases
have been reported in more than 10 countries, including in Europe, Asia and
Latin America.
==Kyodo
Seven inspectors wearing protective clothing and masks walked through the
arrival gate and onto an AeroMexico flight that arrived at Narita airport at
6:30 a.m. with 185 passengers and 13 crew members aboard. They were given the
all-clear, according to officials of the health ministry's quarantine office at
the airport.
Japan has yet to have either a confirmed or suspected case of the swine flu in
the epidemic, which originated in Mexico, where the country's health ministry
said the death toll of suspected cases has risen to more than 150.
According to a Reuters report, a U.S. government official confirmed the first
death in the country from the new flu Wednesday -- also the first death from
swine flu reported outside Mexico. A 23-month-old child reportedly died in
Texas from the flu. U.S. officials have confirmed 65 cases of swine flu, most
of them mild, the report said.
At Narita airport, one Japanese man complained of throat pain during the
inspections and was briefly isolated from the others, only to return with
negative results after inspectors conducted a simple test using a portable kit.
Passengers said about 20 people who were seated around the man got into an
uproar when an inspector told them that they would likely have to remain on the
plane for about six hours if he tested positive. Eventually, all the passengers
and crew got off the Boeing 777 about an hour after its arrival.
Among the passengers were family members of a Japanese corporate employee
stationed in Mexico, as well as a Japanese professional boxer who regularly
fights in the country.
''They have closed the Japanese school for our daughters and we decided to
return to Japan after the alert level was raised,'' said a 38-year-old
housekeeper who arrived on the plane with two daughters.
The boxer, Tomoki Kameda, said about one in 10 people were wearing masks in
Mexico City shortly before he left the country, cutting short his training and
fight schedules there.
''I was wearing a mask myself because I was worried (about the flu). My family
got worried too so I returned to Japan ahead of schedule,'' said 17-year-old
Kameda, the youngest of the three popular Kameda boxing brothers.
Officers from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry began in-flight quarantine
inspections Tuesday at the Narita and Kansai airports after the World Health
Organization raised the alert level to phase 4 on Monday, amid reports that the
swine flu epidemic was spreading on a global scale.
A number of travelers left Japanese airports for various overseas destinations
as Japan's Golden Week holidays started Wednesday.
Many travelers seemed concerned about the outbreak of the new flu overseas.
Daido Uchida, a 43-year-old company worker from Yao, Osaka Prefecture, was
about to leave Kansai airport for San Francisco for work.
''Since a friend in the United States told me that surgical masks were out of
stock in many drugstores, I bought them in Japan,'' he said.
Despite growing concerns about a possible pandemic of the new flu, some
tourists appear composed.
A 38-year-old company employee from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, said at
Kansai airport, ''I heard (the new flu) is less virulent and it's of no use if
I keep worrying about.''
''The possibility of dying in a traffic accident is much higher,'' said the man
who plans to enjoy driving in San Francisco.
Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmissions of the virus
and can cause community-level outbreaks. It is two levels shy from the highest,
phase 6, which is issued for a full-blown global pandemic.
Cuba and Argentina have reportedly suspended direct flights from Mexico because
of the swine flu outbreak there.
Meanwhile, Japanese health minister Yoichi Masuzoe called anew for calm
response to spread of the disease.
''I advise you to wash your hands and gargle when you get home, and you should
go to hospitals or clinics or consult with public health centers if you have
the smallest of worries about the flu,'' Masuzoe said in a speech at a trade
union rally in Tokyo. ''You're required to behave calmly.''
Mexico's health ministry said Tuesday that 2,498 suspected cases of swine flu
have been reported and the new virus is suspected in 159 deaths, seven more
from the previously reported figure. Costa Rican and German authorities said
the same day they have confirmed the countries' first cases of swine flu.
Outbreaks of the new flu in humans have also been confirmed in the United
States, New Zealand, Canada, Britain, Spain and Israel, while suspected cases
have been reported in more than 10 countries, including in Europe, Asia and
Latin America.
==Kyodo
