VZCZCXRO0887
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHKO #2572/01 1310917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110917Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1905
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 6135
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 6102
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 8760
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 9339
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 7300
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 8251
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AIAG AMBASSADOR LANGE 
DEPT FOR OES/IHA SINGER AND FENDRICK 
DEPT FOR EAP/J 
USDA PASS TO APHIS 
HHS PASS TO CDC 
HHS FOR OGHA STEIGER, BHAT AND ELVANDER 
DEPT PASS TO AID/GH/HIDN DENNIS CARROLL 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO JA
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: JAPAN WEEKLY REPORT MAY 11 
 
REF: A. 05 STATE 153802 
 
¶B. TOKYO 2438 AND PREVIOUS 
¶C. STATE 69310 
 
TOKYO 00002572  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  The following is an update on avian influenza (AI) 
developments in Japan for the period May 2 to 11.  No human 
or animal outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza were reported 
in Japan during the above period. 
 
-- Japan-ASEAN Initiative to Combat Pandemic Influenza 
Launched -- 
 
¶2.  On May 2, the GOJ launched the Japan-ASEAN Initiative 
to Combat Pandemic Influenza in Jakarta, Indonesia. 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Deputy Minister Mitoji 
Yabunaka presented a list of goods that will be procured by 
Tokyo to help combat a pandemic influenza outbreak to ASEAN 
Secretary General Ong Keng Yong.  The Initiative is one 
 
SIPDIS 
part of Japan's USD 70 million ASEAN integration project 
that was announced in December 2005 by Prime Minister 
Koizumi and is the first project to be funded by the Japan- 
ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). 
 
¶3.  The first shipment of the antiviral Tamiflu and 
personal protective equipment has already been stockpiled 
in Singapore.  Over the next several months, Tokyo will 
send additional shipments to bring the stockpile up to a 
total of 500,000 courses of the drug and 700,000 sets of 
PPE.  The drugs and protective gear (masks, gowns, gloves, 
antiseptic solution, investigative kits) will be available 
as part of early AI containment efforts for quick dispatch 
to the region's countries during an outbreak. 
 
-- GOJ Informed of U.S. Plan Rollout -- 
 
¶4.  On May 10, EST M/C informed Ministry of Health, Labor 
and Welfare (MHLW) Assistant Minister for Technical Affairs 
Takashi Toguchi of the completion and rollout of the 
Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic 
Influenza per ref C.  Toguchi welcomed the news and told 
EST M/C that MHLW officials were closely studying the full 
document.  EST M/C left several documents relating to the 
plan with the Assistant Minister. 
 
-- Okayama Forms New NPO to Train Burmese Doctors on AI, 
Other Diseases -- 
 
¶5.  A group of Okayama Prefecture-based health experts 
established a non-profit organization called The Japan- 
Burma Medical Professionals' Training Support Association 
to assist with the training of Burmese doctors and nurses. 
Okayama University plans to train approximately ten Burmese 
exchange students per year in modern medical procedures. 
Dr. Shigeru Okada, professor emeritus at the university, 
created the NPO to follow up on his extensive work in Burma 
on improving blood examination techniques.  He hopes the 
association will provide a venue where information can be 
exchanged on avian influenza and other infectious diseases, 
with the ultimate goal of boosting medical capacity in the 
country. 
 
-- Japan to Breed Domestic Parent Stock Chickens -- 
 
¶6.  At a press conference on May 9, Minister for 
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shoichiro Nakagawa said 
that he would encourage the development of a superior breed 
of domestic Japanese chickens in order to reduce the risk 
Japanese poultry producers face by depending on a limited 
number of countries for parent and grandparent stock.  In 
JFY2005, Japan imported a total of one million live 
chickens from the UK, France, the U.S., Germany and the 
Netherlands.  Because of restrictions on poultry imports 
from Europe due to recent avian influenza outbreaks there, 
Japan is currently able to import only 20 percent of the 
chickens it usually acquires from overseas. 
 
TOKYO 00002572  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
SCHIEFFER