Japan swine flu cases surge, most infected are teenagers

Tokyo: A wave of new confirmations sent the number of swine flu cases in Japan soaring to more than 135, health officials said on Monday, prompting the government to order the closure of of nearly 2,000 schools and the cancelation of community events.

At least 135 people have tested positive for the H1N1 virus, said health officials. Most of the infected are teenagers, and all were recovering in hospitals or their homes.

The country had just four confirmed cases as of Friday, all of whom were believed to have caught the flu outside of the country.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry confirmed the first case caught domestically, in the port city of Kobe.

The number quickly increased from there, with four at the Tokyo airport, 78 in Hyogo, which includes Kobe, and 39 in the Osaka area. Osaka is Japan's second-largest urban area.

"We must be careful, but with quick treatment patients can recover," said Prime Minister Taro Aso. "We must respond calmly and appropriately."

Aso said the government is not yet planning to restrict gatherings.

NTV, a commercial TV network, quoted World Health Organization officials as saying the new wave would make Japan the fourth-most infected country in the world, after Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Hospitals have set up special "fever clinics" to separate possible swine flu carriers from other outpatients.

Along with the school closures, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ said most of its staff at a branch in Hyogo Prefecture, southwest Japan, were working from home after an employee tested positive.

"We have not determined how the virus spread in the region, and we are doing our best to track down the route of the infections and contain them," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura.

Japan's first four cases were spotted at an airport quarantine after three high school students and a teacher returned from a school trip to Canada in early May.

Officials said they did not know whether the first four cases were related to the latest outbreak.

"We are issuing an epidemic warning," Osaka Governor Toru Hashimoto said at a news conference. "We must be prepared for a further expansion."

The World Health Organisation has confirmed at least 8,480 human cases of swine flu in nearly 40 countries, mostly in the US and Mexico, including 72 deaths.

Developments on swine flu worldwide

Key developments on swine flu outbreaks, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organisation and government officials:

- Deaths: Global total of 76 - 68 in Mexico, six in US, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. Officials said Canadian, US and Costa Rican victims also had other medical conditions.

- Confirmed cases: WHO says 40 countries have reported more than 8,829 cases, mostly in US and Mexico.

- CDC says 46 US states plus District of Columbia have combined 4,714 confirmed and probable cases. Most probable cases are eventually confirmed.

- The World Health Organisation opens its annual meeting in Geneva amid concern that swine flu continues to spread - and kill - around the world.

- A wave of new confirmations sends the number of swine flu cases in Japan soaring to 135, health officials say, prompting the government to order the closure of nearly 2,000 schools and the cancelation of community events.

- South Korea quarantines Vietnamese traveler after preliminary tests show she probably has swine flu.

- Chile confirms its first two cases of swine flu in two women who arrived from the Dominican Republic. The women, ages 25 and 32, are hospitalized and in good condition, Health Minister Alvaro Erazo said.

- Officials in Peru say a US man living in that country has become the South American nation's second confirmed case of swine flu. Health Minister Oscar Ugarte says the 37-year-old man is a resident of the southern city of Arequipa.