Record year for harpest – most cases in Västerbotten: “Remarkable”

Last year, Västerbotten accounted for a quarter of all harpest cases in the country – 180 cases were reported.

– If we’re talking locally, it was the largest number of cases we’ve had historically, says Anders Sjöstedt and continues:

– What was special last year was that several of the cases occurred in southern Västerbotten. It is usually an area with very few cases, says Anders Sjöstedt, professor of clinical microbiology at Umeå University.

Gävleborg had the second highest number, a total of 135.

So far this year, a total of 40 cases have been reported, but the majority of disease cases usually occur in late summer and early autumn.

According to Anders Sjöstedt, harpest is a disease that is difficult to predict. There are many different parameters that come into play, such as rainfall, water temperature, amount of snow during the previous winter and number of mosquitoes.

Will become more common in Norrland

– Some years the factors work together in a very favorable way for the bacteria, he says.

Anders Sjöstedt believes that climate change will affect the occurrence of the disease.

– In some places it can decrease, where it rains less. But in some parts of Norrland it will definitely become more common, he says.