Japan to improve Ebola testing system amid rise in visitors from overseas

Japan Times -- Nov 17

A Japanese national research institute said Thursday it will import strains of Ebola and four other deadly viruses to improve detection processes amid a rise in the number of foreign visitors to the country.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases plans to bring the pathogens to a facility in the western suburbs of Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but will not push forward without local support, a health ministry official said.

The viruses to be imported are those that cause five types of hemorrhagic fever — Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, Lassa and Marburg.

The pathogens do not exist in Japan and have never been deliberately brought into the country.

According to the institute, having access to the pathogens would not only increase the speed and accuracy with which it could identify an infected person, but would also give it the ability to conduct tests to assess a patient’s recovery.

The pathogens would be kept at the institute’s laboratory in the city of Musashimurayama, western Tokyo. The lab is currently the only one in Japan classified as having the maximum biosafety level of BSL-4.

Nov 17 (ANNnewsCH) - 厚生労働省はエボラ出血熱などの原因ウイルスを海外から輸入し、検査体制を強化する考えを明らかしました。 海外からの入国者が年々増えていることを受けて厚労省は、エボラ出血熱など最も危険性が高いとされる5種類の「一類感染症」が国内で発生した場合に迅速に対応する必要があるとしています。