VZCZCXRO7797
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRL #0899 2090537
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280537Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4708
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0065
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0384
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8116
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0150
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0807
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1518

UNCLAS BERLIN 000899 
 
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: 3,349 CONFIRMED CASES 
 
REF:  A) Berlin 894, B) Berlin 889 and previous. 
 
¶1. (U)  SUMMARY: The net number of H1N1 infections in Germany 
rose by 505 cases to a total of 3,349 on July 27. The majority 
of new infections occurred abroad, mainly during travel to 
Spain. Germany considers cancelling mass gatherings to stem an 
outbreak.   END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U)  At its July 27 press briefing, the National Reference 
Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) 
announced 511 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) confirmed 
cases of H1N1 and subtracted six previously confirmed cases in 
Berlin.  This net increase of 505 cases brings the total to 
3,349.  New cases were distributed among the federal states: 
Berlin (-6), North Rhine-Westphalia (245), Baden-Wuerttemberg 
(72), Schleswig-Holstein (56), Hesse (39), Rhineland- 
Palatinate (36), Bavaria (33), Saxony-Anhalt (16), Thuringia 
(5), Bremen (4), Brandenburg (3), and Hamburg (2). 
¶3. (U)  According to RKI, the increase in the number of 
infections is mainly due to people returning from travel 
abroad (420 new cases), with most of them reportedly infected 
while in Spain.  Newly confirmed cases include laboratory- 
confirmed cases of H1N1 as well as non-laboratory-confirmed 
cases, mainly from poeple who have showed symptoms after being 
in contact with a patient who has been tested positive at a 
labor for the new virus. 
¶4. (U)  North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) remains the German state 
with the highest number of virus cases among all German states 
with a total of 1209 (36 percent of German cases), followed by 
Lower-Saxony (681) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (344 cases).  Less 
than 25 percent (802) of all confirmed infections in Germany 
have resulted from domestic transmission. 
 
 
Mass Events Affected by New Flu? 
------------------------------- 
¶5. (U)   Theo Schroeder, State Secretary at the Federal 
Ministry of Health told media over the week end that Germany 
will consider cancelling mass gatherings to stem a H1N1 
outbreak if the virus continuous to spread further.  RKI 
predicts the virus could infect one in three people by fall. 
However, Joerg Hacker, president of RKI said that there is 
currently no need to panic nor to shut down big events to 
prevent transmission, arguing that the majority of newly 
confirmed cases involve people returning from travel abroad. 
He added that one week of quarantine at home is currently 
sufficient to stop a spread in cases that show a mild course 
of the virus. 
 
 
BRADTKE