West Virginia sportsmen have been rightly concerned about recent news accounts detailing the discovery of large numbers of dead deer. The West Virginia DNR has some answers, and thankfully those answers are not as bad as they might seem.
The culprit for these mass kill offs in most cases is Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease or EHD for short.
"It’s a viral disease that is transmitted by a bug called a biting midge," said DNR District One Assistant Game Biologist Steve Rauch. "That’s the only way it can be transmitted. It cannot be transmitted deer-to-deer or any way else."
Unfortunately in this part of the country, the end result is almost always death. Literally hundreds of deer have died this summer in West Virginia as a result of EHD. The virus has been confirmed in Hancock, Monongalia, Marion, Harrison and Wayne Counties. Test results are pending in nine other West Virginia counties.
"What typically happens is that you will see lots of deer in very specific areas end up dying," Rauch said.
The virus is common in the southern United States, but far less lethal. Rauch says in those states deer build immunity to the virus and if they survive it the first time its contracted, they are typically safe for the remainder of their days.
West Virginia whitetails are typically far less resilient since the virus only occurs on an occasional basis, and typically comes with a dry summer.
"These midges seem to be associated with low water conditions and mudflats," Rauch says. "It seems to increase the number, which has the potential for this disease to pop up."
West Virginia hasn’t had a serious outbreak of EHD since 2002. Another serious outbreak killed off a large number of deer in the summer of 1996. During both years, much like 2007, drought conditions were persistent for extended periods of time.
Rauch says the good news for hunters is that despite large mortality rates, it’s not expected to impact the overall deer population. He does concede however, that the spot where you normally deer hunt was one of those impacted, you’ll likely see far fewer deer this fall.
Biologists also offer that EHD poses no threat to humans. Consumption of infected meat is not a concern.
Rauch says this is condition should also not be concerned with the other major disease that faces West Virginia deer, Chronic Wasting Disease. CWD is a far greater risk to whitetails, but so far in West Virginia has only been detected in a very isolated area of Hampshire County.