Welcome to the Nordic Section of the Wildlife Disease Association

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The Nordic Section Report 2011

The Nordic section has had a stable membership, with a couple of new members the past year. The section board has had e-mail correspondence when necessary, and informed the membership of important news items, such as when Echinococcus multilocularis was found in Sweden for the first time, in February 2011. One board meeting has been held in 2011, by teleconferencing. The biennial Nordic section was held 2-5 June 2011, hosted by the Finnish members, arranged by Marja Isomursu at the wildlife section of the Finnish food safety authority, Evira. The venue was in Oravi in south-east Finland, with more lakes than land mass, home of the freshwater ringed seal, the Saimaa seal. Only about 300 seals live in the lake system, with gill nets of hobby fishermen as the major threat to pups. Biology research is done, with radio tracking from glued on transmitters on a small number of animals. The meeting attracted 13 participants, four from Finland, five from Sweden, one from Denmark, two from Norway and one from Latvia. The two-day program included a two-year summary report from the Nordic-Scandinavian countries, various ongoing research project presentations and an afternoon workshop on the fox tapeworm. Also, there was a boat trip to look for Saimaa seals, with one brief observation of a young seal in the water, and a visit and overnight stay on an island in the national park Linnansaari for those who wished. Sauna at least once daily, with a swim in the lake, and lots of freshwater fish on the meny. A familiar and interesting meeting for all, with most presentations in English actually, as we had a couple of external guests. The general assembly for the Nordic section was held, and the Nordic section logo was officially introduced, a Nordic section collectors item pin was ceremoniously distributed to the present members, and the Nordic section gavel and sound block (see photos) had been engraved (by Erik). The previous board members and officers were all re-elected for another two year period.

Presently, the board is as the previous two years; Erik Ågren chair, Ann Sofie Hammer secretary, Henrik Uhlhorn treasurer, Marja Isomursu and Antti Oksanen country representatives for Finland, Bjørnar Ytrehus and Turid Vikøren country representatives for Norway, and Trine Hammer Jensen country representative for Denmark. Bjørnar Ytrehus is the newsletter editor and Erik Ågren section representative in the editorial board as an assistant editor for the JWD. Abstracts for most presentations will hopefully be posted on the Nordic section pages when updates are made possible.

The next meeting of the Nordic section is planned to be on an island somewhere in Sweden, 2013.

Respectfully submitted,

Erik Ågren