GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 111 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 000710 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: 111 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 704, B) Berlin 695, C) Berlin 686, D) Berlin 672, E) Berlin 663, F) Berlin 657, G) Berlin 641, H) Berlin 626, I) Berlin 545, J) Berlin 537, K) Berlin 526, L) Berlin 518, M) Berlin 512, N) Berlin 495, O) Berlin 488 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 cases in Germany rose to 111 on June 12, as sixteen more people were confirmed to be infected with the new virus. More school children have contracted the virus. Despite the raise in the WHO pandemic alert level, there is no change in German measures. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On June 12, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced in its press briefing sixteen new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in Germany. This increases the total number of confirmed cases in Germany to 111. The new cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: North Rhine-Westphalia (9),Bavaria (1),Thuringia (1),Schleswig Holstein (1),Baden-Wuerttemberg (1),Hesse (1),Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1),and Saxony-Anhalt (1). More School Children -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Media reports that the number of children at a Japanese international school in Duesseldorf (North Rhine- Westphalia) who have tested positive for H1N1 has risen from 27 to 46, in addition to three parents who are reportedly infected with the virus. As reported in Ref A, the school has been temporarily closed to minimize the risk of further transmission to other children. According to the media, the infected children are under quarantine at home. ¶4. (SBU) In response to WHO's raise of the global pandemic level, German health officials have voiced concerns about the general H1N1 situation, saying that it is serious and that people should consider certain preventive measures. However, they caution against panic, considering the low number of infections in the country compared to some European neighbors and countries like the US and Mexico. "We have expected WHO to raise the alert level", German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt said yesterday in Berlin. "There is no need to take on additional measures. Measures implemented during the previous alert levels remain in place and will consequently be followed", the minister said. KOENIG