UKRAINIAN LAB CONFIRMS FIRST "SWINE FLU" CASE

UNCLAS KYIV 000949

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DEPT FOR EUR/UMB, CA/OCS/ACS/EUR -- S. SCHMIERER

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TAGS: ECON PREL AMED CASC PGOV XH UP

SUBJECT: UKRAINIAN LAB CONFIRMS FIRST "SWINE FLU" CASE

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1. (SBU) Summary. Ukraine's Deputy Health Minister Oleksander
Bilovol confirmed yesterday that a local lab had positively
diagnosed A/H1N1 with "99 percent certainty" in a 24 year-old
Ukrainian man, who had arrived in Kyiv on May 29 from New York via
Paris. His is the first known case of "swine flu" in Ukraine.
Official confirmation from a WHO-designated lab is not expected
before mid-June. The efficient response demonstrated by Ukrainian
authorities suggests that the country's emergency preparedness has
thus far been adequate. Health authorities have already identified
and are monitoring roughly seventy people who had been in contact
with the afflicted man, including ten U.S. citizens seated nearby on
the Air France flight. The Embassy's consular section has reached
out to the U.S. citizens, urging that they contact the special H1N1
unit established at the Ministry of Health were they to experience
any flu-like symptoms. End summary.


2. (SBU) Deputy Minister of Health Bilovol told journalists on June
2 that local lab tests confirmed with "99 percent certainty" the
country's first known case of A/H1N1. Bilovol stated that the
patient was being closely monitored at a Kyiv hospital. The
Ministry of Health's special H1N1 unit has led efforts to contact
roughly 70 other individuals in Ukraine who had been in proximity to
the 24 year-old Ukrainian citizen. Head of the H1N1 unit Irina
Kolesnikova told us that lab specimens had been sent to WHO virology
experts in London for conclusive testing. Ministry of Health
officials expect a definitive diagnosis before mid-June.


3. (SBU) Of those who had been seated within two rows of the the
H1N1 patient on the May 29 Air France Paris-Kyiv flight, ten are
American citizens. The Ministry of Health provided Post with a list
of the U.S. passport holders. In concurrence with CA/OCS, the
Embassy's consular section has spoken with or passed messages to
seven of the ten Americans. The three not yet reachable were
members of the same family.


4. (SBU) None of the Americans contacted by Post has reported
flu-like symptoms. At the request of the Ukrainian Ministry of
Health, Post has urged potentially affected American citizens to
call a special hotline established by the Ministry's H1N1 unit if
they began to experience flu-like symptoms. According to Ministry
of Health officials contacted by the consular section, a follow up
health examination would only be necessary if symptoms occurred
before the end of the incubation period on June 4.


5. (SBU) The Ukrainian H1N1 patient reportedly is a Detroit
resident. According to local and international media reports, he
experienced no abnormal symptoms during his flights, only
complaining of head and muscle pain at the Kyiv airport. The
patient's friend took him to a local hospital, from which he was
transferred by ambulance to a special medical facility prepared for
A/H1N1 cases. After a physical examination, the man was admitted
and is undergoing treatment. The patient's friend and the taxi
driver have also been examined and will undergo regular monitoring
in the coming days.

6. (SBU) Comment. It appears that the official GOU response to the
A/H1N1 case has been adequate. The Ministry of Health, in concert
with Kyiv-based WHO detailee Katia Bulavinova, has been forthcoming
with us regarding the case. Their efforts to contact potentially
afflicted individuals, establish an H1N1 unit and hotline, and
communicate with the public have seemingly mitigated panic within
the local population.

PETTIT