Diseased Deer Dying In Suffolk: DEC

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Deer in Suffolk County are dying of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation.

The EHD virus is typically a fatal disease for deer that is transmitted by biting midges, small insects sometimes called 'no-see-ums' or 'punkies;' the disease is not spread from deer to deer and humans cannot be infected by deer or bites from midges, the DEC said.

Deer have also died of the EHD virus in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Nassau, Oswego, and Ulster counties. The DEC is tracking suspected cases in Albany, Jefferson, Oneida, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties — as well as new reports of dead deer to track the spread and estimate the number of deer dying of the disease.

To date, the DEC has received reports of 700 dead deer statewide.

The EHD virus was first confirmed in New York deer in 2007, with small outbreaks in Albany, Rensselaer, and Niagara counties, and in Rockland County in 2011, the DEC said. From early September to late October 2020, a large EHD outbreak occurred in the lower Hudson Valley, centered in Putnam and Orange counties, with an estimated 1,500 deer mortalities, the DEC said.

Once infected with EHD virus, deer usually die within 36 hours. EHD outbreaks are most common in the late summer and early fall when midges are abundant, although initial cases this year were detected in late July, the DEC said.

Signs of the EHD virus include fever, hemorrhage in muscles or organs, and swelling of the head, neck, tongue, and lips. A deer infected with EHD may appear lame or dehydrated; frequently, infected deer will seek out water sources, and many die near water sources, the DEC said.

There is no treatment or means to prevent EHD, the DEC said.

Dead deer are not a source of infection for other animals, the DEC said.

EHD cases have been reported in New York since July, and the virus has had time to circulate and spread prior to the first killing frosts, making it more widespread this year than in the past, the DEC said.

EHD outbreaks do not have a significant long-term impact on regional deer populations, but deer mortality can be significant in small geographic areas, the DEC said. EHD is endemic in the southern states, which report annual outbreaks, so some southern deer have developed immunity, the DEC said.

In the northeast, EHD outbreaks occur sporadically and deer in New York have no immunity to the virus, with most expected to die. The first hard frost is expected to kill the midges that transmit the disease, ending the EHD outbreak, the DEC said.

Sightings of sick or dead deer suspected of having EHD can be reported to DEC via a new online EHD reporting form or by contacting the nearest DEC Regional Wildlife Office.