There is an epizootic, the animal world's equivalent of a pandemic, among wild birds in Europe.
- It is a very contagious type of bird flu that is spreading this season, says Lotta Berg.
Since November, 14 bird herds have been found infected in Skåne.
The latest outbreak, which was observed at the beginning of this week, is a herd of laying hens in Eslöv.
All 18,000 hens have been killed.
Must be kept indoors
The Swedish Board of Agriculture has classified the area as risk level three, which means a restricted area of ten kilometers.
- This means that all domestic birds in the area must be kept indoors, including hobby herds, says Lotta Berg.
The disease is spread from wild to domestic birds.
Both commercial bird herds and private individuals with a few chickens at home in the garden are affected.
- It is very important with hygiene and that you change shoes when you go in and out to your birds, says Lotta Berg.
Millions of birds killed
Lotta Berg has worked as a county veterinarian for 20 years and has never experienced anything like this.
- It is an exceptional situation.
In total, several million birds have been killed after a total of 24 outbreaks across the country.
The reason why Skåne is so hard hit is that the migratory birds come here first.
Now Lotta Berg hopes that the outbreaks will subside.
- It usually disappears when the heat comes in the spring and summer, so we hope so.
In January, we interviewed the veterinarian at Blentagruppen after a major outbreak outside Sjöbo:
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The Blenta group's veterinarian Bodil Wahlgren says that this is the first time in 60 years that the facility has been affected by bird flu.
Photo: Patrik Cegrini (SVT) / private