DEER DISEASE FOUND IN CALHOUN - EHD Spreading To Cattle

(10/04/2007)

At least 20 West Virginia counties have deer that tested positive for the insect-borne disease known as epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD. Calhoun is one of the counties, in addition to Roane, Braxton and Ritchie. State officials are now saying the insect-borne virus that has killed hundreds of deer has now spread to farm animals. The disease had not been found in West Virginia cattle since 1993. Officials are testing cattle samples in Jackson and Roane counties to determine if the illness has spread to farms there. The disease cannot be transmitted to humans. Paul Johansen of the Division of Natural Resources says the first heavy frost will kill off the biting midge, the insect that carries the disease. But the weather has probably helped it spread further than it's been seen in previous years. The dry weather means deer are sticking to a small number of watering holes, where the biting midge lives.

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