ZIMBABWE H1N1 FLU: TWO CASES CONFIRMED

UNCLAS HARARE 000618 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO KFLU ECON EAGR PHUM ASEC PGOV PREL ZI SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE H1N1 FLU: TWO CASES CONFIRMED ¶1. (U) To date, only two cases of the H1N1 flu virus have been documented in Zimbabwe. Both of these imported cases were contracted and confirmed by laboratories outside of Zimbabwe. ¶2. (U) In one confirmed case, an Indian man contracted the disease outside Zimbabwe, probably in London, before returning home to Zimbabwe. In another case, an 18-year-old Zimbabwean male contracted H1N1 while at a squash tournament in Cape Town, South Africa. The squash player and several other young athletes who contracted the virus shared a water pipe while in Cape Town. ¶3. (U) Zimbabwe lacks adequate testing capabilities for H1N1, as resources are divided between two laboratories in Harare and Bulawayo, leaving neither capable of testing for the virus. The World Health Organization in Zimbabwe has adequate stocks of tamiflu. DHANANI