Deer diseases EHD, CWD: What to know about protecting against fatal illnesses
I own just a tad less than eight acres where my house sits. As a teenager I hunted on the property. That was long before − as in decades before − it was subdivided into eight building lots. I constructed my home on what amounted to the largest chunk of the subdivision; two acres of which are wet.
Strangely enough, I rarely have had a problem with mosquitos, probably because the topography of the lot caused me to build the house about 350 feet from mosquito ground zero, on a 50-foot-high rock ledge.
Within the last couple of weeks, I noticed that I was being stung by something I couldn’t see, hence the name, "no-see-ums." It is any of a family of tiny black flies. Without getting mired down in a scientific discussion, an entomologist might call them Culicoides midges. The little black flies lay their eggs on moist soil and the eggs will not hatch if they dry out. Those tiny little blood suckers can carry a disease known as epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD.
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EHD first appeared in New York in October 2007 in Albany and Niagara counties. In August 2011, EHD killed 100 deer in Rockland County. And after an eight-year hiatus, in the fall of 2020, another large outbreak occurred in the lower Hudson Valley and killed an estimated 1,500 deer. Then in July 2021, the disease struck yet again, killing an estimated 2,000 whitetails in 15 counties. By the time it abated, it killed deer in Dutchess and others here in the Hudson Valley, as well as counties in the Great Lakes region and Long Island.
I went out on a limb Wednesday morning when this article was published online and said EHD already reared its ugly head here in Dutchess. Sure enough, later in the morning the Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed the first case of EHD was found in the county. The DEC noted it was also investigating other reports of dead deer in Dutchess.
The problem with EHD is there really is no way to hold it at bay. Current − and very likely − future weather conditions are providing a near perfect environment for the bug that carries the disease to proliferate.
Clinical signs of EHD in white-tailed deer usually begin approximately seven days after infection with the virus. They may have reduced appetite, weakness and loss of fear of humans. Fever and edema are common and deer with EHD often have a swollen head, neck, tongue or eyelids. Infected deer die quickly, usually within 8 to 36 hours.
There is one bright spot in all of this; biologists agree humans don’t get the disease. However, if you are hunting and see a deer that is not acting normal, let it pass because there is no way to be sure it has EHD or some other disease that could make you sick or worse, should you handle or eat it.
CWD continues to expand range
According to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD, has now been detected in 30 states and four Canadian provinces in both free-ranging cervids. Unlike EHD, while it is possible to slow the spread of the disease, it has characteristics that are cause for serious concern.
CWD has a long incubation period − maybe years − and though infected deer may not display symptoms, they may be spreading the disease to animals they come in contact with.
The prions that spread the disease are impervious to extreme temperature swings. A deer along the road for days or weeks can infect another deer that comes in contact with it. The prions can live in the soil and can find their way into plants that are eaten by deer, elk and other cervids.
While there are medications and vaccines to cure or develop resistance to bacterial and viral infections, these is no known treatment for CWD.
CWD is also 100% fatal.
As much as has been written and reported about CWD, far too many hunters still resent the controls that are put in place to keep it off the landscape. If you are a hunter, you do not want CWD in the deer herd.
There is a laundry list of things that hunters should be doing to help stop CWD at the border:
Report any animal displaying obvious signs of illness to the DEC. Symptoms of CWD include drastic weight loss, lack of coordination, drooling or an unusual lack of fear of people.
Properly dispose of the carcasses of any deer, elk or moose you harvest.
Wear latex, vinyl or rubber gloves when handling the remains of an animal. Use a saw or knife specifically dedicated to cutting bone, and do not use the same blade to cut meat and bone.
If you kill a deer or elk inside of a CWD zone, do not transport the intact carcass outside of the CWD zone. There are no zones in New York at this time.
Consider getting your deer, elk or moose tested for CWD before you eat it. I’m not sure this is necessary here in New York, yet.
Do not feed deer. Feed stations encourage animals to congregate at a single location, which can increase the chances of spreading any infection, including CWD.
Most importantly, don't ship or import a whole carcass or an intact trophy head into New York.
If you do hunt deer, elk, moose, or caribou anywhere outside of New York, you may only import the deboned meat, cleaned skull cap, antlers with no flesh adhering, raw or processed cape or hide, cleaned teeth or lower jaw, and finished taxidermy products into New York. Follow the big game importation restrictions to prevent the spread of CWD.
For more information visit www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7507.html
If you see a sick animal or have questions about CWD and other wildlife diseases, call DEC at 845-256-2098.
With deer season around the corner, it would pay to educate yourself on these and other diseases you may come into contact with.
Bill Conners of the Federation of Fish and Game Clubs writes on outdoors issues. Email: conners@billconners.net.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Deer diseases EHD, CWD spreads; what hunters should know
