the national veterinary institute (SVA) has for many years made the controls of the diseases of wild animals. The work has among other things contributed to diseases such as avian flu and african swine fever has been detected early.
Often it is hunters or other individuals who submitted the samples or dead animal carcasses that test at SVA. The business has been funded from the resources of the Viltvårdsfonden. In 2018, it was four million. But when the government’s directions, reached the SVA after the new year was not the money.
– this is of course a consequence of the fact that we have a transitional government must follow certain rules for how to formulate the government’s appropriation directions. In this case, you had made the interpretation that the Viltvårdsfondens funds can be perceived as political, and therefore has removed it from its appropriation directions, ” says Jens Mattsson, director general of the SVA.
if the operation can continue when Sweden gets a regular government, but notes that the former has both S-tagged and Alliansregeringar granted the money.
From the transitional government will reply that can point to the mission is not threatened:
”the Activities belong to the core tasks that the agency performs every year, the mission remains. The authority shall therefore continue with the surveillance of diseases in wild animals. I have during the day contacted the director general of the SVA, Jens Mattsson, and stated this.”, writes Elisabeth Backteman, secretary of state at the minister of rural affairs Sven-Erik Bucht, in a statement.
if the money fails to come may the SVA a severely limited opportunity to take in mammals and birds for surveys.
– As of a few years ago when we first found the bird flu in wild birds. Then we knew we had a new variant in Sweden, to shortly thereafter be able to find it with the tame birds. Now we run the risk of lagging a step behind.
Lotta Berg, a veterinarian and president of the national fågelföreningen Birdlife Sweden, is concerned about the consequences of a missed surveillance can get.
– It becomes all the more difficult to have a well informed opinion about which diseases occur and in what extent. First, it is a matter of concern for the wild animals themselves, but also a risk for farm animals, and even pet, if we do not know when it is time to take special precautions for that there is some type of infection in the area, ” she says.
the free been unable to send in dead birds that they find at their bird feeders to the SVA.
” we’d love to know what it depends on. It is of course not always the case if an infection, it could be accidents or animals who are debilitated by previous food shortage. But it can also be a contagious disease. Then it is good to know it, for when you have to interrupt the feed so that it does not contribute to the spread.
In the future there will be fewer dead animals that are to be analysed, think Lotta Berg.
” of course You can always submit animals for post-mortem yet, but then I would have to pay the full cost for it. There will be a cost that I think very many people feel that they do not have the opportunity to take for a wild animal that they do not have any responsibility for.
