The Michigan DNR announced last week that it detected a viral disease among St. Joseph County’s deer population.
The fly-borne disease is called Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD.
While people cannot contract it, the virus is often fatal for deer.
The DNR confirmed the case in late July. That's a month or two early according to the agency, potentially leading to a more damaging outbreak.
Chad Fedewa is the acting deer, elk, and moose management specialist with the Michigan DNR.
He said it's still too early to tell how EHD will affect Michigan’s deer this year, but upcoming weather will play a big role.
“If we continue to have some warm, dry weather here coming up and over the next few weeks, expect more cases will continue to crop up,” he said.
Fedewa added that an outbreak of the disease could heavily impact local populations.
“You could see some pretty expensive local, localized die-offs and talking to hundreds and maybe even 1000 or more deer in some local areas over the course of a few weeks.”
Sonja Christensen researches wildlife diseases at Michigan State University.
She said that EHD appears to have become more of an issue in Michigan.
“It seems like that increasing trend — of more significant, more intense, higher frequency, more frequent outbreaks — is happening in Michigan.”
Christensen added she’s participating in research to determine if climate change is playing a role.
But EHD doesn't spell doom for Michigan's deer according to Christensen, with outbreaks usually being very localized and deer populations bouncing back within a few years.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
