YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A 4-month-old infant experiencing a fever and the child’s mother were placed in quarantine Friday at Yokota’s hospital after arriving at the base on a military charter flight from Seattle, U.S. Forces Japan officials said.
In addition, 13 passengers identified as sitting near the infant and mother aboard the Patriot Express flight volunteered to be isolated at base medical facilities for observation, USFJ officials said. The baby was to be tested for swine flu.
The action was taken as many nations around the world are taking extra steps in monitoring their border traffic, hoping to stop the spread of the A1H1N1 virus, which causes what is commonly known as swine flu.
According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention Web site, 109 confirmed cases of the illness, with one death, have been reported in the U.S.
The infant had a fever over 100 degrees upon arriving in Japan, USFJ spokesman Maj. Neil Murphy said.
He said medical personnel used both thermal imaging and questionnaires to screen each passenger departing the aircraft, just as Japan’s international airports are doing when screening arriving passengers.
Following its stop at Yokota, the Patriot Express continued its weekly rounds to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.
Now in quarantine, the infant will be tested for the virus, Murphy said. He said he didn’t know if the 13 other passengers under observation will also be tested or where in the States they came from to take the Patriot Express, which originates in Seattle.
How long the quarantine of the passengers will last also was unknown late Friday, he said.
Test results to determine whether the illness is swine flu routinely take three to five days, Murphy said.
Symptoms take several days to appear and are similar to the regular flu, according to the CDC.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was notified of the situation by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, according to a ministry spokesman.
"We are unsure of the baby’s condition and we are worried about the baby," the official said. "We are working together to conduct the test as soon as possible."
He said Yokota officials told the ministry that the infant tested positive for Type A influenza. Type A is a general category for influenzas that can spread rapidly and develop into pandemics.
Murphy said the only symptom the infant was displaying was fever. He said the infant is in a special room designed to contain germs and that all personnel in contact with the infant wear protective gear.
"Yokota Air Base, like many local communities, has increased surveillance for illness at our Urgent Care Clinic, and is working with our host public health offices," USFJ said in a news release Friday evening. "If trends are detected, information will be forwarded to the local Japanese Public Health Office, with proposed response."
H1N1 in AsiaSwine flu is confirmed in Asia for the first time as Hong Kong’s leader says the territory has detected a case — a Mexican citizen who developed a fever after arriving in Hong Kong via Shanghai on Thursday. Other Asian countries have suspected cases, however, and South Korea raised its number of cases listed as probable to three.
— The Associated Press
