Category Archives: deer

Oh, Deer. Disease

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chronic wasting disease, epizootic hemorrhagic diseaseThere’s been no shortage of deer disease news recently.

In Kansas, three white-tailed bucks taken during the hunting season have tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism announced in a press release yesterday. Kansas has had 43 confirmed cases of CWD since 2005.

Read the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism press release, here.
Read the Wichita Eagle outdoor writer’s blog, here.

In Missouri, the CWD news came at the end of January.  Two adult bucks shot in Macon County were found to have CWD. They first free ranging deer in the state to be found with the disease, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Missouri saw its first CWD case, in captive deer, in 2010, according to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website.

Read the Missouri Department of Conservation press release, here.

In Michigan, the problem is epizootic hemorrhagic disease. Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials say it may take five years for the deer herd to recover from this summer’s bout of the disease, according to an article in the Lenawee Daily Telegram. If the disease strikes again this summer, they hope to hear about it sooner.

Read the article in the Daily Telegram, here.

In Pennsylvania, a game farm elk that wandered into neighboring West Virginia won’t be allowed back in the state in an effort to protect Pennsylvania wildlife from CWD. (CWD has been found in West Virginia, but not Pennsylvania.) Read the story in the magazine OutdoorLife, here.

Photo of white-tailed buck by John Stehn, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

EHD Impacts Deer Population in Northern Plains

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According to the Associated Press, epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has killed 90 percent of the white-tail deer along a 100 miles stretch in northeastern Montana. Other outbreaks were recorded in the Northern Plains states of North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas.

The outbreak lead to a reduction in the number of white-tail hunting tags available in Montana, and a refund for tags already sold in North Dakota.

A wet spring and summer, plus a warm autumn meant that the biting midges that spread the disease were particularly numerous in the region this year.

Read the entire Associated Press story via the Yahoo! news site, here.

The silver lining, the article says, is that streamside cottonwood groves may be able to rebound while the white-tail deer population is in decline.

Photo: A biting midge, courtesy of USDA

EHD Impacts Deer Population in Northern Plains

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According to the Associated Press, epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has killed 90 percent of the white-tail deer along a 100 miles stretch in northeastern Montana. Other outbreaks were recorded in the Northern Plains states of North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Kansas.

The outbreak lead to a reduction in the number of white-tail hunting tags available in Montana, and a refund for tags already sold in North Dakota.

A wet spring and summer, plus a warm autumn meant that the biting midges that spread the disease were particularly numerous in the region this year.

Read the entire Associated Press story via the Yahoo! news site, here.

The silver lining, the article says, is that streamside cottonwood groves may be able to rebound while the white-tail deer population is in decline.

Photo: A biting midge, courtesy of USDA

Disease May Be Behind Low Virginia Hunt Numbers

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Virginia is reporting a 10 percent to 15 percent decrease in harvests statewide this year, reports the Tidewater News. In addition to warmer weather and full moons, the article quotes a district wildlife biologist as saying that disease may have also played a role. About three percent of the deer in the Tidewater, Va. have been afflicted with disease, the article quotes the biologist as saying.
However, the biologist says the disease is bluetongue. That’s common in cattle, but fairly rare in cervids such as deer, notes a ProMed commentator. Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) displays similar symptoms and is common in deer. A laboratory test can tell the two viruses apart, the comment says.

Big Nosed Deer Deer in Mich. Is One of Several

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A deer with a weirdly swollen nose was found in Michigan this season. It was the fourth deer ever found in Michigan with a similar swelling, according to a wildlife biologist and pathologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Disease Lab quoted in an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette. The pathologist also says in the article that the only thing the deer have in common is an infection with the mites that cause mange.

State wildlife officials originally had no interest in this particular deer, according to an Associated Press report, but Kevin Keel, a wildlife pathologist at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia saw the odd deer’s photo on a deer hunting blog, and got involved.

Keel said in his blog post that in the last seven years he’s seen about 10 of these deer from states ranging from Georgia to Idaho. What causes the nasal swelling is still a mystery. The Kalamazoo Gazette article says that a bacterial infection seems likely, but the Athens lab hasn’t been able to isolate it yet.

It may turn out that there may be more of these deer out there than anyone thought. Just a week after the first posting, someone else sent a photo of a swollen-nosed deer to the same hunting blog.

Here’s the Kalamazoo Gazette article that first discussed the deer.

EHD in NC

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Epizootic hemorrhagic disease popped up late in North Carolina this year, says an article in the Wilmington Star-News. So far the outbreak has been mild. (And considering how late in the season it is, the chances seem good for it to remain mild.)

The article says a dry summer probably contributed to the lateness and mildness of the disease this year. Drought plagued the region for most of the summer. Hurricane Irene brought the rain that allowed the midges to thrive. Officials from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission say there have been about 30 cases of EHD confirmed in the eastern part of the state.

Read the whole article in the Wilmington Star-News.

EHD in NC

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Epizootic hemorrhagic disease popped up late in North Carolina this year, says an article in the Wilmington Star-News. So far the outbreak has been mild. (And considering how late in the season it is, the chances seem good for it to remain mild.)

The article says a dry summer probably contributed to the lateness and mildness of the disease this year. Drought plagued the region for most of the summer. Hurricane Irene brought the rain that allowed the midges to thrive. Officials from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission say there have been about 30 cases of EHD confirmed in the eastern part of the state.

Read the whole article in the Wilmington Star-News.

Virus Hurts NJ Deer Hunt

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In the North, the virulance of epizootic hemorrhagic disease in white-tailed deer varies greatly. The outbreak may be mild and kill only a few deer, or it may have population-level impact. This year in New Jersey, or at least parts of that state, EHD appeared to have an impact on the state’s exceptionally dense deer population levels.

(Read more from:
NJ.com, the on-line arm of the Newark Star-Ledger
NBC New York)

Now that it’s hunting season, the impact of the virus is being seen in a reduced harvest. During the muzzleloader season in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, less than half of the typical number of deer were taken, which may be a harbinger of rifle season numbers.

Read the story in MyCentralJersey.com. (And yes, the story goes on to other game topics before the end of the first page.)

Photo: License check in 2008, Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. Credit: John and Karen Hollingsworth, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Possible Adenovirus in Deer in California

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A homeowner in Colfax, Cal. has found five dead deer in her yard since September. A local veterinarian suspects that it might be adenovirus. However, the homeowner apparently called her local newspaper before reporting the deer to the California Department of Fish and Game, so while we know the deer are dead, no tests have been done.

Read the article in the Auburn (Cal.) Journal.