H1N1 UPDATE: 11,103 CONFIRMED CASES

UNCLAS BERLIN 000997 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: 11,103 CONFIRMED CASES REF: A) Berlin 989, B) Berlin 984 and previous. ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany increased by 503 new cases bringing the total as of August 13 to 11,103. Consistent with previous reporting, the majority of new infections occurred abroad. END SUMMARY ¶2. (U) At its August 12 press briefing, the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) confirmed a total of 503 new (laboratory and non- laboratory) H1N1 cases in Germany over yesterday. This increases the total number of H1N1 cases to 11,103. New cases were distributed among the federal states as follows: Lower- Saxony (152),North Rhine-Westphalia (139),Baden-Wuerttemberg (67),Rhineland-Palatinate (63),Hesse (27),Brandenburg (17), Thuringia (12),Hamburg (11),Saxony (5),Bremen (5),Saxony- Anhalt (3) and Berlin (2). ¶3. (U) According to RKI, 331 of the 503 new cases are attributed to people returning from travel abroad. New cases also include non-laboratory H1N1 cases from people who exhibited symptoms after being in contact with a laboratory confirmed infected person. So far, all new cases are reportedly mild. ¶4. (U) North Rhine-Westphalia remains the German state with the highest number of confirmed H1N1 cases with a total of 4,015, followed by Lower-Saxony (2018) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (1081). About 23 percent (2504) of all confirmed H1N1 infections in Germany have resulted from domestic transmission. BRADTKE