The health ministry is considering legal changes to more effectively handle outbreaks of infectious illnesses -- such as the atypical pneumonia now plaguing much of Asia -- by increasing the government's authority to act.
The law concerning the prevention of communicable diseases and treatment of patients with such diseases classifies 74 kinds of illnesses into four categories, depending on their severity.
It allows prefectural governors to decide on responses to life-threatening contagious diseases with unknown causes, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, with the most drastic measures in the top category including forced hospitalization and buildings being sealed.