GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: AN 11-CASE SPIKE, 49 TOTAL

UNCLAS BERLIN 000672 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: AN 11-CASE SPIKE, 49 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: The number of H1N1 cases in Germany rose to 49 on June 5 as eleven more people were confirmed to be infected with the new virus. The states of Lower-Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate reported their first infections. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On June 5, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced in its press briefing eleven new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in Germany. This increases the total number of confirmed cases to forty-nine (Refs B-E). According to the institute, ten of the infections occurred in the US and one was a case of human-to-human transmission in Germany. The new cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: Hesse (2), Baden-Wuerttemberg (3),Lower Saxony (1),Thuringia (2), Rhineland-Palatinate (1) and Bavaria (2). First Infections in Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) RKI reported on June 5 the first infections in the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony. The Health Ministry in Lower Saxony confirmed the virus in a 4- year old boy who returned from a trip to the US with his family. He showed flu-like symptoms and was treated at a hospital. Media reports indicate that he is now at home where he and his family are in quarantine. A 4-year old girl from Rhineland-Palatinate was also confirmed to have the flu. Media reports indicate that the girl returned from a trip to the US with her family with fever and cold symptoms. Health officials report that in both cases the course of the flu is mild. Tally of sources -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In 30 of the 49 (total, to date) cases, the infection occurred in the US, nine cases occurred in Mexico, and one in England. Nine of the infections were transmitted among five families of Germans who returned from travel, at a hospital and the airport. KOENIG