GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: A 19-CASE SPIKE, 68 TOTAL

UNCLAS BERLIN 000686 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: A 19-CASE SPIKE, 68 TOTAL REF: A) Berlin 672, B) 663, C) 657, D) Berlin 641, E) Berlin 626, F) Berlin 545, G) Berlin 537, H) Berlin 526, I) Berlin 518, J) Berlin 512, K) Berlin 495, L) Berlin 488 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 cases in Germany rose to 68 on June 8 as nineteen more people were confirmed to be infected with the new virus. Two US soldiers at a military facility in Landstuhl (Rhineland-Palatinate) are infected with the virus and several other US military cases are suspected. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On June 8, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced in its press briefing nineteen new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in Germany. This increases the total number of confirmed cases to sixty-eight (Refs A-E). According to the institute, fourteen of the infections occurred in the US, with others from Canada, Argentina, and Panama. Two infections were cases of human-to-human transmission inside Germany. The new cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: Baden-Wuerttemberg (5),Bavaria (4),North Rhine-Westphalia (4),Hamburg (3),Hesse (1),and Lower Saxony (2). ¶3. (SBU) Bavarian health officials confirmed four new cases of H1N1. A family member of a 45-year old man from Munich who recently was confirmed to have the flu, was tested positive for the virus. A 16-year old girl from the area of Wuerzburg returned from a trip to Argentina with flu-like symptoms and was confirmed to the have the virus. According to the media, she passed the virus on to a 16-year old girl friend. A 44-year old woman from Munich also tested positive for the new flu. She returned from a trip to the US with flu-like symptoms and was later confirmed to have the flu. Health officials report that the course of the virus in all four cases was mild, with all patients on the way to recovery. There is currently no information available regarding the confirmed infections in the other federal German states. US Soldiers in Germany Infected with New Flu -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Media reports indicate that two cases of swine flu have been confirmed in soldiers at the medical center in Landstuhl (Rhineland-Palatinate). Two Navy and two Air Force personnel who have shown flu-like symptoms are reportedly "probable" cases of infection. One Navy sailor was recently in Italy and the others remained in-country. All were reportedly sharing a common area at the Landstuhl hospital. Contacts of the infected patients are reportedly being treated with Tamiflu as a preventive measure. The patients have been isolated at a different building complex on the military facility. (Comment: According to a EUCOM Liaison Officer, EUCOM has complied fully with the mandatory reporting requirements established in a 30 April 2009 ordinance from the health authorities. End Comment.) Tally of sources -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In 44 of the 68 (total, to date) cases, the infection occurred in the US, nine cases occurred in Mexico, and one each in England, Canada, Argentina, and Panama. Eleven of the infections were transmitted among seven families of Germans who returned from travel, at a hospital, and the airport. KOENIG