Category: Wildlife
Posted by Dave Spratt on Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 3:35 PMAnother bad acronym for Michigan deer: EHD
The Michigan DNR said today that it was epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) that killed more than 50 deer along the Clinton River in Oakland and Macomb counties in recent weeks.
The viral disease is a nasty one, transmitted by teensie little flies -- midges -- about 1/10-inch long. It causes confusion, progressive weakness and often death.
It has appeared in Michigan before, most recently in 2006 along the Allegan River. Michigan had outbreaks in 1955 and 1974, too, and it has been seen in other states. Indiana has been losing deer to it in the past several years.
It usually comes in late summer and dies off when frost kills the midges.
