No biohazard facilities in Japan can handle Ebola

Saturday, October 18, 2014
By Paul Martin

by Eric Johnston
JapanTimes.co.jp
Oct 17, 2014

OSAKA – Despite assurances by the Japanese government that it stands ready to tackle an Ebola outbreak, a lack of facilities to handle the virus suggests such assertions may be overly optimistic.

As of last Sunday, the hemorrhagic virus had killed more than 4,400 people worldwide, and nearly 9,000 were known to be infected, mostly in West Africa, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With fears growing of an international pandemic, Japan is taking administrative steps to strengthen its response. The government has introduced a bill in the Diet that would give local governments greater power to require patients with infectious diseases to submit samples for Ebola testing.

Forty-seven hospitals and medical facilities nationwide, including facilities near Narita and Kansai airports, are “designated” as infectious disease treatment centers, so Ebola patients would likely be sent there. But Japan does not have any facilities with the required biosafety level to handle the deadly disease, according to CDC guidelines.

Ebola should only be handled in biosafety Level 4 facilities, where protective positive pressure suits must be worn and the rooms are constructed in a way that ensures the virus cannot escape. But there are fewer than 30 Level 4 facilities worldwide, and none in Japan.

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