The government set up a task force Friday that will compile an action plan by the end of November to fight possible outbreaks of bird flu variants among humans, according to health minister Hidehisa Otsuji.
The action plan is expected to recommend such measures as the avoidance of large gatherings or overseas travel during such an outbreak, which could kill up to 167,000 people in Japan, officials at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
The guidelines are expected to categorize the level of the outbreak process into six stages -- the worst being a global epidemic -- and assessing the current situation as the third stage, the officials said.
Japan needs to step up epidemic research as there have already been some human bird flu infections in Japan, they said.
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