GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 195 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 000720 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 RO SUBJECT: GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 195 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 714, B) Berlin 710 and previous. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 cases in Germany rose to 195 on June 16, as twenty-three more people were confirmed to be infected with the virus. Most of the spike in H1N1 cases occurred in North Rhine-Westphalia. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On June 16, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced in its press briefing twenty-three new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 in Germany. This increases the total number of confirmed cases in Germany to 195. The new cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: North Rhine-Westphalia (19), Hesse (1),Bavaria (1),Berlin (1),and Saxony (1). 107 of the total 195 confirmed infections occurred in Germany. Cases in North Rhine-Westphalia on the rise -------------- ¶3. (SBU) According to RKI, most of the recent cases in Germany involve children and young adults at the Japanese school in Duesseldorf and a school in Cologne (Ref A, B) who tested positive for H1N1 last week. The two schools will remain temporarily closed in order to minimize the risk of further transmission to other children. State Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann said last week that the state was well- prepared to deal with the pandemic, assuring that the "best possible health protection of the population continues to be guaranteed." He announced the establishment of a council of experts to advise the state government on the measures to be taken. The eight-member panel includes professors of the medical schools at the Universities of Bonn, Duesseldorf and Muenster as well as the directors of the health departments of Duesseldorf and Cologne. Second Case of H1N1 in Berlin -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On June 16 RKI confirmed one additional case of H1N1 in Berlin, raising the total number of confirmed infections in the city to two. According to the Berlin Senate for Health, Environment and Consumer, a 30-year old male tested positive for the virus. He recently returned from a trip to Romania and may have contracted the virus there. Media reports indicate that a third person in Berlin, the partner of the original 23- year old woman who was confirmed to be infected (see ref A), has likely been infected with the virus, as he shows flu-like symptoms. So far, RKI has not confirmed this case, but the man has been put under quarantine at home pending results of testing. KOENIG