TEN YEARS AGO: HUNDREDS OF DEER DYING FROM EHD - "Big Springs To Chloe"

(10/16/2017)

2017 - EHD deer killing disease is now reoccurring in West Virginia, so far at a fairly low rate. 2007 - It is likely hundreds of deer in Calhoun and regional counties are dying from the insect-borne disease known as epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, said Jeff McGrady, Wildlife Biologist for the DNR in Parkersburg. The disease cannot be transmitted to humans. Deaths from the disease have been reported from Big Springs to Chloe, said DNR officer Tom Fox, who has been responding to calls about deer being affected. Fox said the deer who die from EHD "Die a terrible death." State officials are now saying the insect-borne virus has killed hundreds of deer and has spread to farm animals. Farmers are being advised how to protect their cattle. The disease had not been found in West Virginia cattle since 1993. McCrady said official testing is being done to certify the presence of the disease in regional counties, but after the certification, the number of deaths are only estimates. "This is the fourth outbreak of EHD in 30 years in the Mid-Ohio Valley region," said McCrady. "Lots of deer are dying," he said, but noted that some deer who contact the disease recover. "They don't always die." Officials say the first heavy frost will kill off the biting midge, the insect that carries the disease. The dry weather means deer are sticking to a small number of watering holes, where the biting midge lives.

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