H1N1 UPDATE: 9,770 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 000977 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: H1N1 UPDATE: 9,770 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 962, B) Berlin 937 and previous. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 infections in Germany rose over the week end by 557 to a total of 9,770 on August ¶10. The majority of new infections occurred abroad. Berlin authorities are taking additional precautionary measures in preparation for the 12th IAAF World Athletic Championship which begin August 15th in Berlin. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) At its August 10 press briefing, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 557 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) H1N1 cases over the week end in Germany. This increases the total number of H1N1 cases to 9,770. New cases were distributed among the federal states: North Rhine-Westphalia (218),Lower-Saxony (82),Baden-Wuerttemberg (67),Rhineland- Palatinate (52),Hesse (43),Thuringia (23),Bavaria (20), Saxony (18),Brandenburg (13),Saxony-Anhalt (9),Bremen (6), and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (6). ¶3. (U) According to RKI, the increase in the number of infections is mainly due to people returning from travel abroad (437 new cases). Newly confirmed cases include laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 as well as non-laboratory- confirmed cases, mainly from people who have showed symptoms after being in contact with a patient who has been tested positive at a laboratory for the new virus. So far, all cases are reportedly mild. ¶4. (U) North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) remains the German state with the highest number of virus cases among all German states with a total of 3,583, followed by Lower-Saxony (1749) and Bavaria (833 cases). About 22 percent (2141) of all confirmed infections in Germany have resulted from domestic transmission. Police order 400,000 protection masks -------------- ¶5. (U) Berlin authorities are taking additional precautionary measures In preparation for the 12th IAAF World Athletic Championship which begin August 15th in Berlin. The police have ordered 400,000 protection masks for their 23,000 employees and established a 20 person "pandemic working group." Hotels housing athletes and big shopping malls have installed disinfectant dispensers to avoid a further spread of the virus. Berlin's Health Senator Katrin Lompscher (The Left) and Sport Senator Ehrhard Koerting (SPD) are expected announce on August 12th Berlin's plans to deal with any increase of the flu during the Championship. Event organizers expect 2,500 athletes and as many as 500,000 spectators during the 9-day event. BRADTKE