Capcom has confirmed to us that none of its Japanese employees will be attending E3 this year due to the swine flu epidemic

"Yes, no one from Capcom Japan will be at E3 this year," Capcom rep Leo Tan told NowGamer.

Head of R&D Keiji Inanfune, Lost Planet producer Jun Takeuchi, Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, and Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles producer Masachika Kawata, have all had to cancel their appearance at the event.

Capcom will still have members of its US team on hand to demo its games however, and answer questions from journalists.

130 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Japan, and the country is currently in a bit of a panic over containing the outbreak.

Yesterday Keiji Inafune had to cancel his appearance at the Nordic Game show.

Capcom's actions are bound to raise serious concerns over which other major Japanese publishers will be attending E3 2009.