Since February, reports of sick and dead small birds, mainly blue tits, have increased. SVA said on its website that it has been able to demonstrate these are cases of blue tit disease.
"We usually receive scattered reports of sick small birds as part of our wildlife disease surveillance, but we see this as a pronounced trend, with more sick blue tits than usual," said Karin Olofsson-Sannö, deputy state veterinarian.
Blue tit disease is caused by a bacterium that causes small birds to develop pneumonia and die quite quickly. It mainly affects blue tits - hence the name - but other small birds, such as tawny owls, can also be affected, according to the Swedish Wildlife Agency.
In 2020, Sweden was affected by a larger outbreak of blue tit disease.
