VZCZCXRO9812
PP RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHKO #0882 0920822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010822Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3041
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 4346
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1066
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2536
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 6994
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 5452
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 9377
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 0663
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 7590
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 8571
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
UNCLAS TOKYO 000882
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AIAG AMBASSADOR LANGE
DEPT FOR OES/IHA COMELLA
DEPT FOR EAP/J
USDA PASS TO APHIS
HHS PASS TO CDC
HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER AND HICKEY
DEPT PASS TO AID/GH/HIDN DENNIS CARROLL
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI CASC JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE
REF: A. 05 STATE 153802
B. 08 TOKYO 246 AND PREVIOUS
C. 06 TOKYO 2135
1. No human or animal outbreaks of H5N1 Avian Influenza (AI) were
reported in Japan during the period of January 30 to March 31 2008.
Japanese research team develops a new PI vaccine.
--------------------------------------------- ----
2. A Japanese research team has developed a new vaccine for
pandemic influenza, which can respond quickly to the influenza virus
despite minor modifications of DNA sequences, according to an
article in the March 12 Asahi Shimbun. Japan's Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare (MHLW) funded the team, consisting of researchers
from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Hokkaido
University, and the Research Foundation for Microbial Disease of
Osaka University. Team leader Dr. Hideki Hasegawa of NIID told ECON
LES that the team developed the nasal-spray vaccine using a H5N1
virus from a human case in Vietnam in 2004 and Ampligen as adjuvant.
Using tests on mice and monkeys, the team confirmed the vaccine is
effective for multiple H5N1 virus strains including, the Hong Kong
H5N1 strain of 1997 and the Indonesian H5N1 strain of 2005. The new
vaccine is expected to respond to a pandemic influenza developed by
modification of the H5N1 virus. The team will conduct further
animal tests for two years to confirm its safety and hopes to start
a clinical test on humans in Japanese fiscal year 2010.
SCHIEFFER