VZCZCXRO9293
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
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