Japan Logs 1st Bird Flu Case

One person caught the bird flu virus while working at a contaminated poultry farm during an outbreak in Japan earlier this year, in the first case of human infection confirmed in Japan, the government said Wednesday.

The Health Ministry said blood samples taken from five Japanese earlier this year were tested for avian influenza, and one had antibodies for the disease, confirming the infection. The four others were likely to have been infected but tests weren't conclusive.

It was the first confirmed case of human infection from the disease in Japan, the ministry said in a statement.

Bird flu has swept through farms across Asia this year, forcing officials to cull more than 100 million birds. The disease also jumped to humans, killing 12 people in Thailand and 20 in Vietnam.

Although there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission, experts worry that the virus could mutate into a version easily spread among people, thus sparking a global pandemic.

Japan's announcement came as Asian nations approved a plan Wednesday to contain future bird-flu outbreaks.

At the end of a two-day meeting in Singapore, health and agriculture officials from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as China, South Korea and international agencies agreed to toughen surveillance, improve diagnostic capabilities and educate the public about the risks the virus poses.

The case confirmed in Japan was of an employee at Asada Nosan Co.'s Funai Farm in western Kyoto prefecture, at the center of Japan's outbreak in February.

Blood was drawn from the employee in tests from March through June, health officials said. It wasn't clear why it took the government so long to confirm the infection.

The employee had a headache that lasted for several days but showed no other symptoms after spending a month spraying disinfectant around the farm from late February, the ministry said.

After the farm was disinfected, the Kyoto government took blood samples from about 86 people, including farm employees, firefighters and local government employees who took part in the operation.

The samples were examined by the National Institute of Infections Diseases in Tokyo.

On Friday, the government said blood samples from five people tested positive for the virus. At the time, officials were unable to determine if any of them had actually contracted the disease.

It wasn't clear how the five were exposed to the virus. But one said he hadn't worn a mask at the farm even after the virus was discovered there, the ministry said Wednesday.

Tests showed that it was "highly possible" the other four — three farm workers and a city inspector — also had been infected, though none of them became ill, the ministry said.

In August, Kyoto District Court handed the Asada Nosan's operator, Hideaki Asada, a one-year suspended sentence for covering up the outbreak and violating livestock hygiene laws.

Asada's parents, who helped run the farm about 230 miles west of Tokyo, committed suicide because of the scandal.