Mutant flu for Japan

[Taro Toporific]

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[SIZE="4"]Mutated flu strain said contagious[/SIZE]
The Asahi Shimbun 04/22/2006
A strain of the type B influenza virus resistant to Tamiflu is now believed capable of human-to-human infections, researchers reported Friday.
The mutated strain had previously not been considered contagious, according to the researchers. One researcher said the apparent human-to-human spread could prompt a review of the use of Tamiflu, the government's main weapon in the battle against influenza outbreaks....more...

[Mulboyne]

Reminds me of this story from last week:

Yomiuri: HEV 'entered Japan via pigs 100 years ago'

The hepatitis E virus, which has recently been detected and occasionally causes mass infection, entered Japan about 100 years ago and has become indigenized, according to a study by a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry research group. The research group, headed by Shunji Mishiro, director of Toshiba General Hospital's research department, has concluded that the import of British pigs, which started with the government's drive to build a "rich country with a strong army" in the Meiji era (1868-1912), was the cause of the virus' entry. As eating meat became popular among Japanese, HEV spread across the country, the group said...more...