| Illinois white tail deer hurt by infectious EHD |
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| By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Deer season is just around the corner, and hunters don’t want to hear any bad news about the whitetails they hope to bring home.
While it’s not a danger to humans, according to Dr. Colleen O’Keefe, Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) division manager of Food Safety and Animal Protection, the IDOA and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are giving a heads up that an outbreak of an acute, infectious virus that kills white tail deer has been detected in Illinois.
According to IDOA, Epizootic Hemor-rhagic Disease (EHD) is an often-fatal virus that causes high fever and severe internal bleeding. EHD is not new – it was first identified in 1955. More than 50 years ago, several hundred white tail deer died in Michigan and New Jersey.
Experts have been on the lookout for EHD ever since, and its last significant outbreak occurred in 2004.
Deer in the Illinois counties of Franklin and Randolph have been reported to have EHD-infected animals in their captive herds. “One farm, in particular, has been devastated,” O’Keefe said. “The farm, located in Franklin County, has lost 16 of its 20 deer.”
While captured herds offer an easily counted death toll, they are not the only casualties attributed to EHD. IDOA and DNR suspect wild deer populations in at least 28 counties in central and southern Illinois may have been affected.
What to look for
Symptoms of EHD include loss of appetite, excessive salivation, muscle weakness, lameness, depression and a rapid pulse and respiration rate.
When an animal suffers from an acute case, it enters a “shock-like” state. When this happens, it will become prostrate and die within eight to 36 hours.
In addition, elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep are also susceptible to EHD.
For those with livestock, the good news is that while animals may become infected, they rarely exhibit signs of the disease or develop a serious illness. The disease is transmitted by biting midges, or gnats, that transfer the virus from infected to uninfected animals as they feed. At this time, there is neither a vaccine nor an effective treatment for the disease.
“The only viable way to control the virus is to control the insect population,” O’Keefe said. “Short of spraying for insects, there’s nothing much a landowner can do to prevent the disease other than wait for cold weather.”
The disease is just now coming into play because EHD outbreaks typically begin in late summer or early fall. Its spread ends with the fall’s insect-killing frost. The deaths this year were first reported in late August. IDOA implied it believes the dry summer in central and southern Illinois, where the cases are concentrated, has contributed to the current outbreak.
“When shallow ponds and creek beds dry up, conditions are good for hatches of disease-carrying insects,” Dr. Paul Shelton, DNR Forest Wildlife Program manager, said. “Then, as summer progresses, deer tend to become more concentrated around watering holes, facilitating the spread of the disease.”
Farmers with ill deer should not assume the animals are infected with EHD, even if they are exhibiting classic symptoms. A veterinarian should be consulted for a checkup.
If the animal dies, IDOA animal disease laboratories in Centralia and Galesburg will perform a postmortem exam to determine cause of death. The fee ranges from $40-$100, depending upon the level of testing required.
Landowners or hunters who witness a deer exhibiting signs of EHD, especially near a creek or pond, can assist agency efforts to monitor the extent of the disease by reporting it to DNR Deer Project Manager Tom Micetich at 309-543-3316, ext. 231.
This farm news was published in the Sept. 12, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
| 9/12/2007 |
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