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Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Biologists are asking the help of hunters and other people involved in outdoor activities in determining the extent of a disease suspected of having caused the death of several deer across the state.
Karl Menzel, the Commission^s big game specialist, says the Commission has received reports of 42 dead deer being found so far this summer and he believes the deaths were caused by EHD/blue tongue.
"The disease is here with us all of the time, and we lose some deer to it nearly every year, but when conditions are very hot and very dry, such as Nebraska has experienced this year, we usually experience larger than normal loses to EHD/blue tongue," Menzel said. "In 1976 the disease killed some 50,000 Nebraska deer, by far the largest die-off ever in the state."
Biologists are attempting to assess the extent of this year^s deer deaths. "We^re asking that anyone who finds an obviously sick deer, or the carcass of a dead deer, to report the finding to us," Menzel said. "The Panhandle is the only area where dead deer have not been reported so far this year. "
Menzel said. "Every few years there are local areas that experience semi-significant losses that affect deer numbers in that small area, but those areas are usually not large enough to create a significant decrease in deer numbers in an entire management unit."
White-tailed deer are the most common victims of EHD/blue tongue, but there have been some deaths of mule deer and pronghorn antelope due to the disease in other years.
EHD/blue tongue is spread by a biting gnat or midge and causes the animal to bleed internally. There may be evidence of bleeding from the infected animal^s external body openings – the anus, mouth, ears and eyes. Sometimes the tongue and lips may have a blue cast. The disease acts very quickly and is fatal to the infected animal, so the chances of a hunter finding an infected live deer are small. Because one symptom of the disease is a high fever, the carcasses of deer that succumbed to EHD/blue tongue are often found near water.
"If the hunter practices the policy of taking only animals that appear to be normal and healthy, there is little chance of harvesting an infected deer."
Uploaded: 9/20/2000
Uploaded: 9/20/2000