Swine Flu
May 3, 2009
Germany's national disease control and prevention agency, the Robert Koch Institute, says a 38-year-old man from Bavaria contracted H1N1 -- also called swine flu -- from another patient in the same hospital ward, who had been in Mexico.
He is the second person in Germany to contract the flu from the same patient, after a 42-year-old nurse working at the hospital also fell ill.
Joerg Hacker, president of the Robert Koch institute says none of those infected in Germany are in any serious danger.
"All in all the infections in Germany have been relatively mild so far, just like the regular seasonal influenza," said Hacker.
"We are not surprised that this has happened but of course we are concerned because it is the first time ... We must expect that there could be further cases of contraction like this in Germany."
Two other cases of H1N1 have been reported in Bavaria and one in Hamburg.
Germany is the second European nation to report a transmission within its borders. Spain's 13 confirmed cases also include one person who had not recently traveled to Mexico, but contracted the disease from his girlfriend, who had visited the country.
Domestic transmissions have also occurred in the United States and Mexico, according to Hacker.
"The virus has the potency to spread and it has the potential to change genetically and that's why we remain concerned and watchful," Hacker said.
"Germany is well armed"
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany is prepared if the virus does spread.
"Germany is well-armed to counteract an epidemic, if that occurs" Merkel told the newspaper, Neue Presse.
"We have all the requirements to quickly deal with the situation if it intensifies. Our next step is to speak with all the states, to determine whether we have sufficient stocks of the anti-viral medication," she said.
More cases surface in Europe
Ireland has become the latest European country to confirm a case of the virus. The Irish health ministry said the patient had recently returned from Mexico and was now recovering well.
Italy has also confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu strain. In Rome, health ministry officials said a 50-year-old man who had returned from Mexico last week had contracted the flu.
Cases have also been confirmed in France, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Britain.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says that the European cases are "almost entirely among those returning from Mexico."
The only fatality outside Mexico has been in the United States.