TOKYO - Japan plans to soon send a team of health experts to Canada to investigate allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a government official said Wednesday.

Japan has ordered doses of GSK-made vaccinations for 37 million people, a shipment due for delivery in the country in December, as Japan has a limited supply of its domestically-made vaccine.

"We plan to dispatch our experts to Canada in early December, but we are considering sending them as quickly as possible," said an official of the health and welfare ministry.

"We want to contact Canadian authorities over the reactions to the flu vaccinations so that we can take possible precautionary measures."

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that an unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GSK has been recalled.

Japan started vaccinating medical workers against swine flu in October.

The virus is known to have killed 70 people in the country, which is now heading into the autumn-winter flu season.

The A(H1N1) virus is believed to have first entered Japan in May, and government officials fear the pandemic will spread further.