VZCZCXRO9241
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRL #0906 2101331
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291331Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4722
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0075
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0386
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8118
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0151
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0809
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1520

UNCLAS BERLIN 000906 
 
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: 4,445 CONFIRMED CASES 
 
REF:  A) Berlin 903, B) Berlin 899 and previous. 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The number of H1N1 infections in Germany 
rose by 635 cases to a total of 4,445 on July 29. The majority 
of new infections occurred abroad, mainly during travel to 
Spain.  Germany's statutory health insurance agencies are 
examining raising insurance premiums to pay for the widespread 
immunization campaign planned for the fall. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) At its July 29 press briefing, the National Reference 
Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) 
announced 635 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) confirmed 
cases of H1N1.  This increases the total number of H1N1 cases 
to  4,445.   New cases were distributed among fourteen federal 
states: North Rhine-Westphalia (293), Lower-Saxony (107), 
Baden-Wuerttemberg (64), Hesse (59), Bavaria (55), Berlin (7), 
Rhineland-Palatinate (11), Saxony-Anhalt (11), Saxony (10), 
Bremen (7), Thuringia (4), Hamburg (3), Brandenburg (3) and 
Schleswig-Holstein (1). 
¶3. (U)  According to RKI, the increase in the number of 
infections is mainly due to people returning from travel 
abroad (384 new cases, which represents 80 percent), with most 
of the reported infections occurring while in Spain.  Newly 
confirmed cases include laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 as 
well as non-laboratory-confirmed cases, mainly from people who 
have showed symptoms after being in contact with a patient who 
has been tested positive at a labor for the new virus.  So 
far, all cases are reportedly mild. 
¶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 1698 (38 percent of German cases), followed by 
Lower-Saxony (902) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (391 cases).  Less 
than 23 percent (982) of all confirmed infections in Germany 
have resulted from domestic transmission. 
 
 
Dispute over flu shot payments 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) Germany's public health insurance agencies are 
considering raising insurance premiums to pay for the large 
scale seasonal influenza vaccinations planned for the fall. 
The health ministry recently announced that the statutory 
health insurance agencies would cover the costs for the 
vaccine and the vaccination which are planned for the fall 
(free of charge for the population).  Media reports indicate 
that the government plans to enact a corresponding ordinance 
in August.  However, health insurance agencies have now called 
on the German government to share the costs which are 
reportedly expected to total approximately 600 million euros. 
In response, Ministry of Health State Secretary Theo Schroeder 
said that the health care stock is sufficient to cover the 
costs.  He also referred to the health care reforms of 2007 
that require public health insurance agencies to pay for 
vaccinations. 
 
BRADTKE