Test samples from flu-infected American baby sent to lab in Japan

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TOKYO, May 3 Kyodo -
Test samples from a 4-month-old American baby being treated for the type A
influenza virus at the U.S. Yokota Air Base in Tokyo were sent Saturday to a
Japanese laboratory.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo has started genetic
screening of the samples from the baby who arrived at the base from the United
States on Friday and tested positive for the A strain in a preliminary
examination, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.
Test results that may indicate whether the baby is highly suspected of being
infected with the H1N1 flu are expected later in the day.
The results are expected to be passed on by the institute to the U.S. military
and then to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Japanese health ministry said if anyone inside the U.S. military base or
other facilities is found to be infected with the new flu, it will be reported
to the World Health Organization as a case in Japan, regardless of whether the
patient is a U.S. national or not.
Even if the baby is confirmed to be positive for the new flu strain, it should
be regarded as a case that has not made any inroads into the county since the
infant has been quarantined by the U.S. military, the Japanese health ministry
said.
According to U.S. Forces Japan officials, the U.S. side will also examine
samples of the virus taken from the baby.
It is expected to take five to eight days before the results will be known from
the additional tests to be conducted in the United States, which are designed
to determine whether it is the H1N1 subtype.
After arriving at the Yokota base Friday morning and getting the results of the
preliminary test, the baby and mother were isolated at a medical facility at
the base, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, based on information provided by
the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
The baby had a temperature of over 38 C when the plane with 260 to 270 military
personnel and others aboard arrived from Seattle around 8:20 a.m., the ministry
said Friday night in a briefing to reporters. Thirteen other passengers seated
near the baby will be isolated until they are confirmed as negative for the new
flu virus.
The plane, chartered by the U.S. military, was en route from Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport to Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Okinawa Prefecture,
host sites of U.S. military bases.
No confirmed cases of the new flu have yet been reported in Japan.
Meanwhile, six municipalities around the U.S. Yokota Air Base in a Tokyo suburb
petitioned the Japanese Defense Ministry's local office and the U.S. base to
implement quarantine procedures similar to those undertaken at Narita and other
international airports and promptly provide information such as the expected
test results on the baby.
Musashimurayama, the city that coordinates the association of the six
municipalities, said it has been told that the base is served by one scheduled
flight per week and arriving passengers have been given questionnaires on their
health condition and similar measures to that at Narita have been taken.
On the baby's case, an official at the city's policy planning division praised
the steps taken at the base, saying the case ''was discovered as a result of
appropriate measures taken.''
But the official complained that ''local governments were notified via the
Foreign Ministry and the Tokyo metropolitan government.''
''We hope information is provided at the earliest possible time,'' the official
said, adding that a further request to that effect may be made within days.
==Kyodo