JAPAN: Up to 77 people in Japan - most of them chicken-farm workers - may have been infected with a mild form of bird flu, health officials said yesterday.
The sufferers come from two prefectures, Saitama and Ibaraki, outside Tokyo, said Masahiko Shimada, an Ibaraki health official.
Mr Shimada said those who may have been infected showed evidence of antibodies to the H5N2 virus, which is weaker than the deadly H5N1 form.
None of them showed signs of the disease, and there was no danger that they would, Kyodo News agency reported.
"There need to be further tests to confirm these results," said Mr Shimada.
He said 70 people had tested positive for antibodies to the H5N2 in Ibaraki.
Another seven have tested positive for the same antibodies in Saitama, according to Tatemitsu Yoshida, a Saitama health official.
He said no virus had been found among them.
Mr Yoshida said the central government had notified health officials that the results did not pose any serious problems.
However, poultry-farm workers should take appropriate measures such as wearing masks and washing their hands frequently.
The much more deadly H5N1 virus has killed at least 76 people worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Japan has so far suffered one case of human infection of the more deadly virus, but no deaths.
There have been several outbreaks of bird flu among poultry flocks in Ibaraki, about 65 miles north of Tokyo.
Japan has culled millions of birds to stop the spread of the disease since it was detected in the country in 2004 for the first time in decades.
Mr Shimada said Ibaraki prefecture alone had culled 2.5 million birds since the disease outbreak began.
Most of the human infections in the world have been linked to direct contact with sick poultry.
However, scientists fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily between humans, bringing about a global flu pandemic that could kill millions.
There is no known cure or vaccination for the H5N1 virus in humans.