Deer Diseases 101
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a new disease that occurs in the brain and other nerve tissues.  CWD is related to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy which is commonly known as "Mad Cow Disease"  This is a new disease that is just really beginning to be understood by researchers.  Signs of CWD include poor body condition, tremors, stumbling, increased salivation, difficulty swallowing, excessive thirst and urination, drooping ears and similar "tired" symptoms (see Figure 3).  No live tests are available.  Conclusive tests can only be conducted on brain tissue for the time being.  The causitive agents of CWD are prions which are similar to viruses.  Biologists debate on whether either is a living thing as they only exhibit life-like characteristics when they have actually infected a host.  Outside the body viruses and prions can withstand temperatures up to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit!  One study in 1999 funded by the National Institue of Health demonstrated for the first time that transmissable spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) which causes CWD can pass from animals into humans in the form of New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) which is similar to Alzheimer's disease.  If deer possess any of the aforementioned symptoms you probably shouldn't eat it or handle it.  There has not been a single documented case of CWD in West Virginia.













                                     Figure 3. Mule deer with CWD.  Note the
                                                 drooping ears, salivation and poor body condition.

Probably the most common deer disease to hit West Virginia is hemorrhagic disease (HD).  HD hit Hardy and Hampshire county deer in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle in 1993.  Deer deaths were reported starting in late July and continued through the fall.  By mid-October, over 200 whitetails had died.  Most all of the deer were found along water courses, especially small feeder streams.  This disease is very similar to bluetongue virus found in cattle and may have provided the link.  Annual outbreaks occur throughout the Southeastern states and currently (Fall 2002) several including Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia are experiencing it.  HD typically occurs in late summer and early fall and poses no threats to humans or pets.  Biting flies called midges spread the disease from deer to deer and death is usally rapid (see Figure 4).  Infected animals are often feverish, swollen around the neck, tongue or eyelids, appear depressed and tired and may have difficulty breathing and foaming at the mouth (see Figure 5).  Field dressing deer is safe with gloves and for the curious researcher exposes the lungs for examination.  Lungs from HD infected deer are often bloody in appearance and saturated with fluid (see Figure 6).  However, not all deer that contract the disease will die.  Surviving deer may be emaciated or appear lame due to hoof damage.  Hunters should not consume deer that were sick at the time they were harvested.  There are no vaccines and outbreaks will continue until frosts cut down the number of insects that spread it.  People again are at no risk of handling or eating infected deer, nor are they at risk of the midges that carry the disease but again hunters shouldn't eat infected deer as a precaution.













Figure 4.  Biting fly spreading HD                                  Figure 5.  Deer with HD











                               Figure 6.  HD infected deer lung.  Note the hemhorraging
                                          and fluid build up in the lung. 

These are some of the more common diseases that affect deer.  I hope this calms some fears that you guys may have so don't buy into the media hype bullshit.  I feel that there are probably deer on the farm that are experiencing HD but it's not a significant threat to the deer herd.  With mild winters, a dry summer, lower than average annual harvests on the farm as well as baiting, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we had several deer die of HD on the farm.  In fact I've come across three deer that had no apparent cause of death while scouting in September the prime time for HD outbreaks. 

So with that being said, wear gloves, don't risk infected meat and don't buy into the media hype.  As always, if you have questions, let me know via the Windy Hills Hunting Club Message Board.

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