VZCZCXRO8034
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRL #0762 1751541
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241541Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4433
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 9954
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0361
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8065
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0122
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0773
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1492

UNCLAS BERLIN 000762 
 
SENSITIVE 
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: GERMANY H1N1 FLU UPDATE: 332 CONFIRMED CASES 
 
REF:  A) Berlin 754, B) Berlin 747 and previous. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 cases in Germany rose to 
332 on June 24, as thirty-one new infections were confirmed. 
State Health Ministers are meeting today in Thuringia to 
discuss H1N1 situation. Chancellor Merkel visited the Robert 
Koch Institute (RKI) on June 23 and assured that the country 
is well-prepared for wider spread of the virus. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  On June 24, the National Reference Center for 
Influenza at RKI announced in its press 
briefing 31 new laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 for 
Germany.  This increases the total number of confirmed cases 
in Germany to 332 (Refs A, B and previous).  The new cases 
were distributed among the federal states as follows: North 
Rhine-Westphalia (14), Baden-Wuerttemberg (11), Bavaria (3), 
Rhineland Palatinate (1), Schleswig-Holstein (1) and Lower- 
Saxony (1). 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Fourteen of the 31 newly confirmed cases reported 
today occurred in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).  NRW remains 
the state showing the highest number of infections among all 
the German states with 160 confirmed cases, followed by 
Bavaria (47 cases) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (44 cases).  The 
Federal State of Saarland remains the only state without 
confirmed virus cases.  The number of confirmed infections 
resulting from domestic transmission of the virus now sits at 
¶178. 
 
Chancellor says Germany well-prepared 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  RKI officials said there are signs that indicate the 
A/H1N1 virus was mutating, warning a more aggressive form of 
the infection could soon start to spread world-wide.  However, 
after a visit to RKI in Berlin on June 23, German Chancellor 
Angela Merkel said that the country is "well prepared" for 
such a scenario.   According to Merkel, the German government 
is in contact with the international community to address the 
issue. The Chancellor also said that the only currently 
unresolved domestic preparation issues relate to vaccination 
procedures in the event of wider spread. 
 
 
Health Minister's Conference 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  The Health Ministers of the 16 federal states 
reportedly are meeting on June 24 in Erfurt (Thuringia) to 
discuss further measures to address the flu, including 
countermeasures such as vaccinating the entire German 
population. 
 
 
KOENIG