H1N1 Cases Continue to Skyrocket in Germany; New Low-

UNCLAS BERLIN 001500 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE PETER SCHROEDER STATE FOR OES/IHB STATE FOR AID/GH/HIDN USDA PASS TO APHIS HHS PASS TO CDC HHS FOR OGHA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU ECON PREL SOCI CASC GM SUBJECT: H1N1 Cases Continue to Skyrocket in Germany; New Low- Pathogenic AI (H5) Virus Appears in Poultry REF: Berlin 1451 and previous ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: From November 7-13, the number of confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany rose by 26,579 cases to a total of 86,654 cases. This is the third consecutive week with an approximately 30 percent increase in the number of confirmed H1N1 cases. The number of H1N1 deaths in Germany increased to forty-one. 25 cases of low-pathogenic avian influenza (H5) were reported in Thuringia. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) At its weekly press briefing on November 23, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 26,579 new laboratory H1N1 cases in Germany from November 7 to November 13, increasing the total number of H1N1 cases to 86,654 (Comment: As of November 8, non-laboratory cases are no longer included in RKI's reporting. End Comment) Bavaria remains the German state with the highest number of confirmed virus cases, with a total of 25,280, followed by Nord Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) (15,769) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (10,258). German H1N1 Deaths Increase -------------- ¶3. (U) As of November 24, RKI has confirmed the deaths of forty-one patients due to H1N1. The deaths are distributed among the German states as follows: NRW (17),Bavaria (11), Baden-Wuerttemberg (2),Thuringia (2),Hesse (2),Mecklenburg- Vorpommern (1),Lower-Saxony (2),Rhineland-Palatinate (1), Saarland (1),Berlin (1) and Saxony (1). In the majority of cases, the patients had underlying health conditions and were considered to be "risk patients". We are aware of four cases (2 NRW, 1 Hesse, 1 Saxony) in which patients reportedly had no underlying health conditions. Low-Pathogenic H5 Virus in Poultry Identified in Thuringia -------------- --- ¶4. (U) On November 20, 25 cases of H5 low-pathogen avian influenza (LPAI) were confirmed at a poultry farm in state of Thuringia. The cases, which were immediately notified to the OIE, had a reported 1.03 percent apparent mortality and morbidity rate. The previous case of LPAI in Germany occurred on April 28, 2009. MURPHY