Cablegate: H1n1 Update: 13,180 Confirmed Cases

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DE RUEHRL #1023 2360528
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240528Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4999
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0150
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0403
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8233
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0172
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0839
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1551

UNCLAS BERLIN 001023

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: 13,180 CONFIRMED CASES

REF: A) Berlin 1014, B) Berlin 1012 and previous.

1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in
Germany increased by 560 cases, bringing the total as of
August 21 to 13,740. END SUMMARY

2. (U) At its August 21 press briefing, the National
Reference
Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI)
confirmed a total of 560 new (laboratory and non-laboratory)
H1N1 cases in Germany, increasing the total number of H1N1
cases to 13,740. New cases were distributed among the federal
states as follows: Schleswig-Holstein (142), North Rhine-
Westphalia (98), Baden-Wuerttemberg (69), Bavaria (66), Lower-
Saxony (60), Berlin (28), Hesse (27), Rhineland-Palatinate
(27), Brandenburg (18), Hamburg (9), Bremen (6), Thuringia
(5), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (3) and Saxony-Anhalt (2).

3. (U) According to RKI, 431 of the total 560 new cases are
attributed to people returning from travel abroad. New cases
include non-laboratory H1N1 cases that exhibited symptoms
after being in contact with a laboratory confirmed infected
person.

4. (U) North Rhine-Westphalia remains the German state with
the highest number of confirmed virus cases with a total of
4,617, followed by Lower-Saxony (2,285) and Baden-
Wuerttemberg (1,697 cases). According to NRW's Institute for
Health and Labor, there is still no indication of a "major
outbreak"; the situation is under control. Although school
has started already in NRW, there has been no major increase
in new infections among students. Students have been advised
to carefully apply hygiene measures and schools have been
advised to increase the number of hygiene articles available
at schools to avoid a spread of the virus. About 23 percent
(3,152) of all confirmed infections in Germany have resulted
from domestic transmission.

5. (U) Estimates by the Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Institute
for Economic Research (RWI), one of Germany's leading research
institutes, indicate that the German economy could faces
losses of up to 160 billion Euro - roughly 0.7 percent of
German GDP - in a worse case scenario outbreak of the new flu.
In this scenario, the infection rate is assumed to be 50
percent. Industries most affected would be transport, food
services, and culture due to an anticipated decrease in
tourism and business travel.

MURPHY

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