Important sheep flock health issues in Scandinavia/northern Europe

This paper reviews some key aspects of important flock health issues in Scandinavia/ northern Europe. The number of sheep in Scandinavia/northern Europe and the sheep livestock trend are shortly summarized, and focus is made on sheep disease diagnostics and health records, disease and management, approach to flock problems, lamb loss, and some specific diseases not being dealt with by others; like toxoplasmosis, trace element deficiencies, plant poisoning (“alveld”) and radioactivity problems. Although few notifiable sheep diseases and zoonoses occur in Scandinavia, numerous common diseases are causing welfare problems among sheep and economic loss to the farmer, and there is a lot to be gained by improved diagnostics and preventive work.