VZCZCXRO5279
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRL #1056 2431527
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311527Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5048
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0175
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0408
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8239
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0177
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0844
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1556

UNCLAS BERLIN 001056 
 
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: 15,878 CONFIRMED CASES 
 
REF:  A) Berlin 1047, B) Berlin 1046 and previous. 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in 
Germany rose over the weekend to 15,878 cases on August 31. 
Opinion polls show that fewer Germans are interested in flu 
vaccination this fall/winter. Health authorities are planning 
an awareness campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated. 
END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) At its August 31 press briefing, the National Reference 
Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) 
confirmed a total of 619 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) 
H1N1 cases in Germany over Thursday of last week, increasing 
the total number of H1N1 cases to 15,878.  New cases were 
distributed among all sixteen federal states as follows: 
Bavaria (148), Baden-Wuerttemberg (147), North Rhine- 
Westphalia (NRW) (121), Rhineland-Palatinate (49), Lower- 
Saxony (47), Schleswig-Holstein (22), Berlin (21), Hesse (19), 
Hamburg (11), Saxony (9), Brandenburg (7), Saxony-Anhalt (5), 
Thuringia (5), Bremen (5) and Saarland (2) and Mecklenburg- 
Vorpommern (1). 
 
¶3. (U)  According to RKI, 385 of the total 619 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)  NRW remains the German state with the highest number 
of confirmed virus cases with a total of 5,064,  followed by 
Lower-Saxony (2,428) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (2,252 cases). 
The number of all confirmed infections in Germany that have 
resulted from domestic transmission increased to 25 percent. 
 
 
Fewer Germans Interested in Flu Vaccination 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U)   An opinion poll conducted by Der Spiegel magazine 
shows that the majority of Germans is not interested in 
getting the H1N1 vaccination in fall. Only 13 percent of the 
Germans polled said they would get the vaccination against the 
new A/H1N1 influenza, and 25 percent of all interviewed said 
that they were considering getting it. Youth between 18 to 29 
years of age were particularly hesitant about the vaccination. 
 The Health Ministry and the Robert-Koch Institute have 
announced plans to launch a campaign to convince young people 
of the need to get flu shots. 
 
 
MURPHY