Posted on 01/08/2006 11:08:55 AM PST by Founding Father
ABOUT 40 poultry farm workers in northern Japan are suspected of having been infected with a mild form of bird flu, an official and a media report said today.
Officials at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases have been testing the blood samples of the workers in Ibaraki Prefecture (state) since the first outbreak of bird flu there in June. Some of them have tested positive for antibodies to H5N2 - a milder strain of bird flu than the deadly H5N1 - in preliminary tests.
The presence of antibodies means the people were once exposed, according to Hiroshi Takimoto, an official of the Health Ministry.
None of them had tested positive for the virus nor developed symptoms of a flu, he said, adding that there is no possibility of the virus spreading the workers to other people.
There have been no confirmed human cases involving the H5N2 strain anywhere in the world, Japanese officials have said.
Mr Takimoto said that the tests so far suggested some workers may have been infected with the H5N2 strain, but added more tests and analysis would be needed.
He declined to say exactly how many tested positive for the antibodies and how many samples had been drawn, saying the tests were ongoing and the ministry planned to announce the results early this week.
Kyodo News agency reported about 40 people were suspected of having been infected with the H5N2 strain after testing about 400 people.
There have been several outbreaks of bird flu in Ibaraki, about 100km north of Tokyo.
Bird flu hit Japan in 2004 for the first time in decades.
There has been one confirmed human case involving the H5N1 virus, but no reported human deaths.
BTTT!
BTTT!
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