3 tested for new flu, 1 found negative as airports on full alert

TOKYO, May 5 Kyodo -
Two girls under 10 years old and a teenage girl were tested for a new strain of
flu after returning from the United States and Mexico and one of the young
girls was found negative, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Kyoto
prefectural government said Tuesday.
The development came as masses of travelers began returning from abroad during
the Golden Week holidays and major Japanese airports boosted the number of
doctors and nurses at their quarantine sections to block the new flu at the
borders.
One of the under-10-year-olds, who is from Kyoto City, underwent special
examination after preliminarily testing positive for influenza A virus Tuesday
upon arrival from the United States at Kansai International Airport near Osaka,
the ministry said.
The other girl, a resident of Kyoto Prefecture returned from Mexico on Sunday,
was found Tuesday not to be infected with any influenza, according to the
prefectural government.
The Kyoto government earlier said she tested negative preliminarily for both
the influenza A and B virus but was tested again as she was diagnosed as
possibly being infected judging from her symptoms.
The third person, who a hospital she entered said is a 14-year-old girl from
Aichi Prefecture, was further tested after preliminarily testing positive for
influenza A virus Tuesday upon arrival from the United States at the Central
Japan International Airport near Nagoya, the ministry said.
No cases of the new flu have yet been confirmed in Japan, although there have
been several cases in which patients tested positive for the influenza A virus
which turned out to be different strains.
On Monday, a Japanese woman in her 40s who arrived at Narita airport from the
United States initially tested positive for influenza A virus.
The health ministry said early Tuesday morning that she was found to be
infected with Soviet A-type influenza, not the new flu.
The total number of officers, doctors and nurses at the quarantine sections at
Narita, Kansai and Central airports has been increased by up to more than three
times the usual number, according to the health ministry.
''The degree of preparedness might be unprecedented,'' one ministry official said.
The three airports are major destinations for direct flights from North
America, where the new flu is rapidly spreading after having first been
detected in Mexico.
At Narita airport, the main gateway to Tokyo, the number of people on
quarantine duty was increased Tuesday to 280 to carry out such measures as
checking the health of passengers from North America while they are still on
board the aircraft.
The number of returning travelers at Narita is expected to top more than 46,000
on Wednesday.
At Kansai airport, doctors and nurses from regions around the airport joined
forces Tuesday to boost the numbers at the quarantine section to 79, the
airport operator said.
The airport plans to keep the force at 79 on Wednesday and around 70 from
Thursday. It expects more than 16,000 travelers to arrive on Tuesday and more
than 18,000 on Wednesday.
At Chubu airport, the number of people on quarantine duty was more than 30 on
Tuesday, according to the airport operator.
The number of travelers arriving at Chubu is expected to exceed 8,000 on both
Tuesday and Wednesday, compared with about 5,000 on normal days.
==Kyodo