If you are a hunter, the DEC is asking you to be on the lookout for deer that may have a deadly virus. The good news is that it's not deadly to humans...but it is fatal for the deer.

According to WKBW, the virus is called Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD.  Not only is the virus not deadly to humans, it looks as though they cannot contract it either.

But it's bad news for the whitetail deer that become infected.

They get it from a biting fly and it will cause them to have visual cues that you will recognize.  They will:

look lame

could have a swollen head, neck, tongue or eyelids

 

they will be constantly dehydrated which causes them to constantly be on the lookout for water sources. You might even find them dead by those water sources.

As of right now, they haven't found any in Western New York counties, however, there have been over 750 found in other parts of the state.  At this point, cases of deer who have been infected with EHD have been confirmed in parts of Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, and Westchester counties.

The concern is that it will eventually spread here.  So the DEC is asking people as they take to their tree stands to be on the lookout for deer that might be exhibiting some of the symptoms listed above.

If you see a deer that looks as though it might have died from EHD, contact the Department of Environmental Conservation.  We are considered Region 9 for Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Wyoming counties.  Click here for info to contact them.

 

 

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