UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001274

HHS FOR OGHA
CDC ATLANTA FOR CCID, AND PASS TO FLU COX AND MOUNTS AND
COGH BLOUNT AND KELLEY

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFLU AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO TBIO KSAF KPAO PREL PINR
AMGT, MG, EAGR, HHS, TF, CH
SUBJECT: TFFLU01: H1N1 INFLUENZA OUTBREAK - CHINA SITREP # 9

REF: A) BEIJING 1264 B) TOKYO 1072 C) BEIJING 1245
D) BEIJING 1224 E) BEIJING 1210 F) HONG KONG 802



1. (SBU) As of COB May 12, China's Ministry of Health (MOH) has
reported one confirmed case of H1N1 on Mainland China, in Chengdu
(REF A). One confirmed case had previously been reported in Hong
Kong on May 1 (REF F).

STATUS OF AMCIT QUARANTINE CASES
--------------


2. (SBU) As of May 12, 57 American citizens are reported to be in
quarantine throughout China - 46 are currently being quarantined in
Beijing and eleven are quarantined in five other provinces and
municipalities across China. Of these, 51 were passengers on the May
8 NW029 flight from Tokyo to Beijing with China's first confirmed
case of H1N1.

-- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) transmitted to Embassy
Beijing on May 12 a list confirming 40 AmCits now quarantined at the
Guomen Hotel. All 40 were passengers on flight NW029 into Beijing on
May 8. Beijing ACS has been able to directly contact 27 of the
AmCits quarantined at the Guomen Hotel.

--Beijing Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) notified Beijing ACS that six
other AmCits, four of whom were on the NW029 May 8 flight from
Tokyo, are in quarantine at the Jin Lin Da Sha Hotel in Beijing.
Another couple, who arrived in Beijing on May 11 on flight UA851
from Chicago, was placed into quarantine at the Jin Lin Da Sha Hotel
when airport screening showed the husband to have an elevated
temperature. Beijing ACS has been in contact with all six AmCits.

-- Shaanxi Provincial FAO reported that three AmCits who were on the
May 8 NW029 flight have been quarantined at the Xi'an City Number 8
Hospital.

--Lanzhou Municipal FAO (in Gansu Province) notified Beijing ACS
that one Amcit who was also on the May 8 NW029 flight is currently
in home quarantine in Lanzhou.

--The four AmCits, who were on board NW025 from Detroit to Tokyo
(Narita) on May 8 with the four confirmed H1N1-infected Japanese
passengers (who remain in Japan) and then continued onto Shanghai on
May 9, are still in quarantine at the Jin Jiang Star Hotel. (Note:
There were previously three confirmed H1N1 cases on flight NW025; a
fourth passenger was confirmed to have H1N1 on May 11. See REF B)

--Two AmCits who traveled to Beijing on the same May 8 NW029 Tokyo
to Beijing flight and then flew onward to Guangzhou remain in
quarantine in Guangzhou.

--In Kunming, one AmCit, who had arrived in Beijing on the NW029 May
8 flight and then traveled on to Yunnan, remains in home
quarantine.

-- All of the five quarantine cases in Beijing reported in REF C on
May 8 have now been released.


INFORMING AMERICANS ABROAD OF NEW AIRPORT SCREENING PROCEDURES
-------------- -------------- --------------


3. (SBU) A management notice was issued on May 12 informing Embassy
staff and families of new airport screening procedures for flights
arriving from the U.S. The new process, effective May 11, calls for
health officials to board the aircraft to perform temperature
readings on each passenger before disembarkation (REF A).


GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
--------------

BEIJING 00001274 002 OF 002




4. (U) According to local press reports, the Sichuan Health Bureau
said that the H1N1 patient was doing well and in good spirits. He
is in quarantine with his father, girlfriend, and a local taxi
driver who had come into contact with the patient. Vice Premier LI
Keqiang visited the Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital where the
H1N1 patient is being treated and telephoned the patient. Li Keqiang
said that China must be open and transparent in its H1N1 prevention
work.


5. (SBU) China CDC's National Influenza Laboratory has received H1N1
rapid diagnostic test kits from U.S. CDC, which likely will shorten
the time required for Chinese health officials to confirm any future
cases.

PICCUTA