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Japan confirms 1st swine flu caught inside country

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-16 17:05

TOKYO - Japan confirmed its first case of A/H1N1 caught within the country on Saturday, showing a massive effort to block the flu at the island nation's borders had failed.

Special coverage:  A（H1N1） Influenza Outbreak Related readings:  More people lifted out of flu quarantine  Schools put on flu watch after two confirmed cases  Outbound tourism gets a flu attack  Arizona woman dies, 4th flu death in US  Mexico confirms 2 more flu deaths, toll at 66

The government ordered schools closed in parts of the port city of Kobe, where the Ministry of Health said a male high school student tested positive for the same strain that has killed more than 70 people worldwide, most of them in Mexico. Unlike the other cases confirmed in Japan so far, the student had not traveled abroad recently.

Two other students at the same school who also haven't left the country recently are also suspected of having the virus. They tested positive in tests done by the local government, but authorities were waiting for results from a national lab.

All three were recovering at medical facilities in Kobe, which is about 270 miles (430 kilometers) west of Tokyo. None of their names were released.

The confirmed case is Japan's fifth overall. The first four cases, three high school students and a teacher who had recently returned from a school trip to Canada, were detected as they entered the country at Narita Airport, Tokyo's main international hub. The health ministry did not release the location of their school.

The H1N1 virus is a new influenza strain for which people have no immunity. Health officials have warned that it could spark a pandemic, infecting millions of people.

Japan has until now sought to take advantage of its lack of land borders to stop the virus from entering the country.

Medical staff were sent to all of its international airports, where doctors in masks and biohazard suits conducted tests of passengers before they even left their planes.

But experts have noted that this flu seems to have a long incubation period _ five to seven days before people notice symptoms.

Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said a health official had been dispatched from Tokyo to help investigate how the disease had spread to the student, who still has a cough and sore throat but is recovering.

Masuzoe said in a national television broadcast that schools in Kobe would be closed for seven days to try to prevent further spread. He urged people to remain calm.

"The most important thing at this stage is for citizens to act calmly based on accurate information," he said.

According to the World Health Organization, some 7,520 people in more than 30 countries have been sickened by the virus, mostly in the US and Mexico.