VZCZCXRO2513
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRL #1047 2391437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271437Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5035
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0171
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 0407
RUEHFT/AMCONSUL FRANKFURT 8238
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE USD FAS WASHINGTON DC 0176
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0843
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1555

UNCLAS BERLIN 001047 
 
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: GERMANY PASSES 15,000 CASES 
 
REF:  A) Berlin 1046, B) Berlin 1039 and previous. 
 
¶1. (U)  SUMMARY: The number of confirmed H1N1 infections in 
Germany has passed the 15,000 mark.  On August 27, 319 new 
cases were reported, bringing the total to 15,259.  German 
health authorities expect a second massive wave of infections 
in winter.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U)  At its August 27 press briefing, the National 
Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) 
confirmed a total of 319 new (laboratory and non-laboratory) 
H1N1 cases in Germany, increasing the total number of H1N1 
cases to 15,259.  New cases were distributed among the federal 
states as follows: North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) (74), Baden- 
Wuerttemberg (114), Bavaria (5), Lower-Saxony (26), Hesse 
(27), Brandenburg (19), Rhineland-Palatinate (25), Hamburg 
(9), Saxony-Anhalt (4), Thuringia (2), Saxony (6), 
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (6), Bremen (1) and Berlin (1). 
 
¶3. (U)  According to RKI, 191 of the total 319 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 4,943,  followed by 
Lower-Saxony (2,381) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (2,3105 cases). 
About 24 percent (3,711) of all confirmed infections in 
Germany have resulted from domestic transmission. 
 
 
RKI and PEI expect second massive wave of infections 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5. (U)  Since the beginning of May 2009, Germany has confirmed 
15,259 new virus infections.  Figures jumped in mid July, 
mainly attributed to people returning from travel abroad.  A 
month later, the daily rate of infection has slightly 
decreased.  However, RKI does not see this as trend but a 
"momentary lull." 
 
¶6. (U)  At a press briefing on August 27 in Berlin, RKI Vice 
President Reinhard Burger and President of the Paul Ehrlich 
Institute (PEI) in Langen, Johannes Lower, said that they 
expect a second wave of H1N1 infections in the winter, 
following the currently steady increase of infections.  Burger 
noted that healthy individuals between 15 and 19 years of age 
were most affected.  Lower confirmed that an H1N1 vaccine had 
been tested on several hundred people in Germany without 
serious side effects. (Comment: Two weeks after test 
immunizations began, reports on side effects have emerged in 
Hamburg.  Several of the 44 volunteers participating in the 
study reported redness, pain at the puncture and rheumatic 
pains.  The side effects are more serious than those 
experienced after immunization against seasonal flu, but abate 
after three days at most.  The immunization drug will 
reportedly come on the market in September. End Comment). 
According to Lower, the vaccine may be suitable for pregnant 
women, although it has not yet been tested on this group. 
 
 
MURPHY