The Public Health Agency has stepped up its surveillance of bird flu. From 1 June, all patients admitted to hospital with influenza symptoms will be tested for bird flu, reports Medicine World.
The background is that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is urging member states to step up their surveillance of bird flu.
The virus has been found in, among others, cats and foxes in Finland, and in the USA, three people have contracted bird flu after being infected by cows. The virus has also been detected in raw milk.
The fact that bird flu is taking hold in new animal species increases the risk of the virus mutating and becoming more contagious between humans as well.
At present, the risk of spread in Sweden is considered low. People working with cows and poultry are not recommended to be vaccinated, unlike in Finland where vaccination of high-risk occupations has already begun.
The situation can change quickly. We are closely monitoring the situation and may need to change our recommendations, says Magnus Gisslén, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency, to Medicine World.
