The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a complaint filed by residents seeking a court order to halt the operation of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in their neighborhood.
In the civil suit filed in 1989, the 281 residents also demanded that the institute, operating in the Toyama district of Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, be relocated, claiming the pathogens and other harmful substances emitted by the institute are a threat to their lives.
The facility, an affiliate of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, is located in a densely populated residential area and researches numerous types of pathogens, including such deadly viruses and bacilli as HIV, tuberculosis, salmonella, botulin and the O-157 strain of E. coli.