Health Alerts

New tularaemia cases are now on the decline after reaching a peak of 150 per week in the first half of August (now around 100). The adjacent counties of Dalarna and Gävleborg in middle Sweden have recorded many of the recent cases, however, dispersal of tularaemia infections has also become more widespread in the north (Norrland). While the Swedish Public Health Agency has registered almost 800 cases to date, September is the peak month according to the ECDC, due to ‘greater exposure to contaminated water and mosquito activity during the summer and early autumn months… Farmers and people involved in hunting, wildlife management, hiking and camping are at higher risk of infection’. During this season’s outbreak, almost three-quarters of infections have been acquired through mosquito bites. Read more.