Japan Flocks to Ostrich Masks to Help Fight Swine Flu Paranoia
Tsukamoto, 40, a veterinary professor at Kyoto Prefectural University, was part of a team that investigated the deaths of birds in 2004, when avian influenza hit farms in western Japan. The probe into the virus that killed three-fifths of infected people worldwide spurred him to produce flu-fighting antibodies from ostriches, which are resistant to infectious diseases.
In July, even before the swine flu outbreak surfaced, Tsukamoto began selling, for about $2 each, face masks lined with the ostrich antibodies. The swine flu circling the globe has heightened the Japanese obsession with wearing face masks, leading shops to sell out plain white surgical types as well as patterned varieties, such as those with Mickey Mouse themes.
“Masks have become part of social etiquette as they give Japanese a sense of security that they and those around them arent spreading diseases,” Masataka Yoshikawa, who tracks consumer behavior at market researcher Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, said in a telephone interview from Tokyo.
Millions of Masks
Tsukamotos Kyoto, western Japan-based Ostrich Pharma Corp. makes 1.6 kilograms of ostrich egg-derived antibodies per month, enough to produce 32 million masks. Since July last year, 12 million of the masks have been sold through sites such as Amazon.co.jp, where theyre priced around 8,400 yen ($88) for 36.
The masks are coated with antibodies against four strains of flu viruses, including the H5N1 avian variety. The ostrich- based antibodies envelop viruses that come in contact with the mask and disable the germs so that a wearer wont get the flu, Tsukamoto said his research shows.
“I discovered ostriches have a stronger immune system against many infectious diseases among birds,” Tsukamoto said from his farm in Kobe, western Japan.
Tsukamotos research comes as drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Sanofi-Aventis SA, and CSL Ltd. prepare to manufacture swine flu vaccines, and health authorities track the virus to determine if it mutates into a more serious form during the Southern Hemispheres winter.
Worldwide infections of swine flu, formally known as H1N1, totaled 15,510 including 99 deaths, or a fatality rate of less than 1 percent, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization. Japan has about 370 cases based on health ministry figures, the highest number in Asia, where no deaths have been reported.
Sold Out
Worry over the spread of flu has led face masks to be sold out in Japanese stores. Masks with prints of Winnie the Pooh from Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. are priced at 198 yen each on Kenko.com Inc.s shopping site, 10 times the cost of Unicharm Corp.s plain versions that come in a pack of 30.
A total of 13 conferences have been canceled at the Osaka International Convention Center after the first locally transmitted case was found in Japan May 16, Hironobu Matsuo, a spokesman for the venue, said May 21.
Pandemic Panic
“Virulence is weak and the death rate is low, so it has little impact on Japans economy for now,” Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo, said by phone on May 27. “We will have to be careful about the economic impact if the virus mutates in future and the government orders restrictions on business activities.”
Hiroko Ishiga, 70, waited in a line of about 50 people mostly wearing masks in front of a branch of Allied Hearts Holdings Co.s Lifort drugstore on May 22, hoping to secure some masks after failing at two shops.
“I have only 20 masks left at home,” said Ishiga. “I even tried to call my family in Tottori prefecture, but masks were not available there either.” Tottori is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Kobe.
Until the outbreak eases, Yukiko Yamaguchi, a resident in Kobe and mother of a 10-month-old baby girl, may move to her parents home in Kagawa Prefecture, about 110 kilometers southwest across the sea from her house.
Polluted Area