Baby at U.S. base, Japanese woman not new flu cases+

TOKYO, May 3 Kyodo -
(EDS: UPDATING WITH CONFIRMATION WOMAN NOT NEW FLU CASE)
A 4-month-old American baby and a Japanese woman in her 40s were found not to
be infected with the new strain of the influenza A virus, the central and local
governments said Sunday.

No cases of the new strain of flu have been confirmed in Japan though the
authorities and the public are increasingly gearing up for a domestic
infection.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced Sunday that the
baby who was quarantined at a U.S. base in Japan has seasonal influenza, ruling
out the possibility of infection with the new strain of the virus.
The Japanese woman preliminarily tested positive for the influenza A virus and
was tested further Sunday for whether she had been infected with the new flu,
the Yokohama city government said.
The woman, in her 40s and originally from Tokyo, developed symptoms of fever
and coughing after returning from San Francisco on April 28 and was staying at
her friend's home in Yokohama.
The baby, who arrived at the U.S. Yokota Air Base on Friday on a chartered
flight from Seattle along with other passengers, is recovering from Soviet
A-type influenza and the baby's temperature is falling, according to the
ministry.
The information was passed to the health ministry from the National Institute
of Infectious Diseases via the U.S. military and the Japanese Foreign Ministry,
according to the health ministry. Test samples from the baby were sent to the
institute on Saturday.
The baby arrived at the Yokota base, about 40 kilometers west of central Tokyo,
Friday morning on a military chartered flight from Seattle along with other
passengers.
The baby had a fever and tested positive for the type A influenza virus in a
preliminary examination on arrival at the base.
The U.S. military had isolated the baby, mother and 13 other passengers but
decided to release them as no particular changes were observed in their health.
The Yokota base, measuring around 7,140,000 square meters, straddles Fussa and
five other municipalities in suburban Tokyo. Around 3,500 military personnel
and 700 civilian employees as well as Japanese employees work at the base.
==Kyodo