Swedish veterinarians’ perspectives on the work with Emergency Animal Diseases – part 1: Workload, task demands, and decision-making

Veterinarians play a central role in the identification and control of Emergency Animal Diseases (EADs), yet empirical knowledge of how they experience and manage this work in practice remains limited. Ultimately, outbreak management depends on how suspected and confirmed cases are handled in everyday veterinary settings. This study explores how Swedish veterinarians experience and manage suspected and confirmed EADs in production animals, with particular attention to workload, task demands, and decision-making. The study draws on semi-structured interviews with 19 livestock and slaughterhouse veterinarians who have managed suspected or confirmed EADs leading to state-mandated interventions such as testing, movement restrictions, and culling. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings are presented through three main themes. First, Organisational strain and competing demands describes how emergency disease work intensifies workload, time pressure, and non-routine administrative and practical tasks, particularly when outbreak management is added to everyday clinical responsibilities. Second, The burden of situated responsibility captures how veterinarians' on-site judgements carry far-reaching consequences and require adaptation of formal protocols to local conditions. Third, Distributing responsibility in the management of EADs shows how collegial, expert, and institutional support helps distribute responsibility and make outbreak work manageable. Overall, the study highlights how EAD management amplifies the complexity of veterinary practice and underscores that strengthening disease preparedness requires attention to the organisational conditions and support structures that enable veterinarians to carry out this work without becoming overburdened.