GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 6 NEW CASES; 37 TOTAL

UNCLAS BERLIN 000663 SENSITIVE 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 EAGR MX GM SUBJECT: GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 6 NEW CASES; 37 TOTAL REF: A) Berlin 657, B) Berlin 641, C) Berlin 626, D) Berlin 545, E) Berlin 537, F) Berlin 526, G) Berlin 518, H) Berlin 512, I) Berlin 495, J) Berlin 488 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On June 3, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed 6 additional cases of A/H1N1 Influenza in Germany, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to thirty- seven. The majority of the infections occurred in the US. The affected states are Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Thuringia and Bavaria. END SUMMARY. Several States Affected by H1N1 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On June 3, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced in its morning press briefing six new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in Germany. This increases the total number of confirmed cases in Germany to thirty-seven (Refs B-E). According to the institute, four of the infections occurred in the US and one in England. The new cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: Hesse (1),North Rhine-Westphalia (1), Saxony (1),Thuringia (1),and Bavaria (2). ¶3. (SBU) RKI reported that a 17-year old student from Starnberg (Bavaria) has the virus after returning from England, where he attends boarding school. He had returned to Germany to visit his family. Media report note that his family was quarantined as a precautionary measure. RKI also reports on a woman from Bavaria who is being tested for the virus. ¶4. (SBU) Media reports also indicate that a 24-year old student from Kassel (Hesse) has the virus. He was reportedly on the same flight from New York to Frankfurt as the 47-year old man from Hesse whom RKI confirmed yesterday (Ref 657). Doctor Infected with H1N1 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) According to media reports, the case in NRW involves a practitioner from Duesseldorf who may have been infected with the virus by taking care of a family who was previously confirmed to have the virus. The man is reportedly asymptomatic. KOENIG