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A new deer disease has been discovered in southeastern Minnesota.
Epizootic haemorrhagic disease is 90% lethal in captive white tailed herds. Cases have been confirmed in South Dakota and Wisconsin, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced Wednesday.
A deer farmer in Goodhue County examined his flock on the last Friday of September. His seven animals looked healthy. On Monday, six of them were dead.
The farmer had no idea what had happened to his animals, said Mackenzie Reberg, senior veterinarian on the Animal Health Council.
"The symptoms were so severe," she said. "It moved so fast. The farmer was worried.
He passed a battery of tests, which were positive for the EHD.
The virus was discovered several years ago in two Minnesota cows. This outbreak is the first to touch a deer in captivity in this state.
The virus is not known to cause disease in humans. But Reberg said it was particularly difficult. It erodes the lining of the deer's mouth and intestines. Infected animals keep a liquid under the skin. L 'exhaustion installs. The vast majority of infected animals die in a few days.
"The few survivors have a long way to go to recover," she said.
The disease is spread by midges, better known as no-see-ums. A gnat must bite an infected animal and then another uninfected animal to transmit the virus.
This happens quickly when the animals are close to each other, but according to Reberg, the six deer in Goodhue County have lived miles away from any other confirmed case.
"And these midges can not fly far alone," she says. "Maybe one mile at a time."
Reberg suspects infected midges have caught the wind in Wisconsin. Midges, however, can not survive a severe frost, so this will probably be the last time of the year.
© 2018 Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved.
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