Sweden In Relation to Europe
NOTE: I’ll be away from my desk for most of the next 48 hours. While I’ll have my laptop with me, I may not be able to do much blogging until I return on Sunday. In the meantime check Crofsblog, FluTrackers, and VDU Blog for any important updates.
# 9850
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has released the following statement on the discovery of what they believe to be two dead swans with H5N8. It is a somewhat syntax challenged machine translation, so we’ll probably have to wait for the OIE report to get full details.
If confirmed, this would be the northernmost detection of H5N8 in Western Europe to date.
2015-03-20
Bird flu has been detected in two dead mute swans found in Stockholm. The swans were sent to the National Veterinary Institute, which routinely checks the found dead birds. Surveys suggest that the swans probably have died of other causes, but even wore on the type of bird flu that has been circulating in Europe since last fall. This type of virus does not infect humans but is a poultry disease.
- The discovery in Stockholm does not lead us to take a few more steps than those applied in the past, but we will of course follow developments closely. It is, as always, important to those who keep chickens or other poultry are meticulous about cleanliness and infection control so that you do not get the infection to their animals, says Ingrid Eilertz, Department of Agriculture. The swans have been sampled in the regular monitoring and there are no commercial poultry flocks in the area.
Found naturally among wild birds
Avian influenza is an avian disease caused by influenza virus. The disease is highly contagious among birds. Milder variants of the virus occurs naturally among wild birds, especially of seabirds.
- This is a disease that affects poultry, says Karl Stahl, Assistant statsepizootolog at SVA. This type of flu is not considered dangerous to humans, and there is also no cases where the pet is infected.
A pet owners who have poultry and suspect bird flu in their animals must contact the veterinarian who in turn reports of suspected bird flu to the Provincial Veterinary and Agriculture.
The overall assessment of the situation is that we remain at level 1, which apply to poultry in Sweden. Level means that poultry can go out, but to feed and water should be administered under a roof or under a shelter outdoors.
