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A few of us on the team have been fielding questions lately about sick or dead deer turning up near ponds and streams in the area. If you've heard the same thing from neighbors, you're not imagining it, and it's not something you need to worry about for your own health. It's a disease called EHD, and this year it's hitting parts of our area harder than usual.
EHD stands for Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease. It's a serious, often fatal viral illness that primarily affects white-tailed deer. The disease is caused by the epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (or, less commonly here, a related bluetongue virus). It's a regular seasonal occurrence in the southern and western U.S., but it only shows up occasionally in the Midwest, which is exactly why local herds tend to hit it hard when it does arrive.
Wisconsin has seen sporadic EHD outbreaks since 2002, including clusters in Chippewa, Jackson, Monroe, and Waukesha counties in past years. So while this disease isn't new to our region, an outbreak of this size, this early in the season, is worth understanding.
EHD isn't random. It follows the same seasonal arc every year, driven entirely by when midges are active.
EHD spreads through the bite of tiny biting insects called midges, often nicknamed "no-see-ums." You've probably seen these insects swarming near lakes, ponds, and other standing water, especially in the evenings. They're a nuisance to humans, but not a health threat to us. The danger is specifically to deer.
The only way EHD transmits — a midge bites an infected deer, then bites another.
Direct contact, biting, scratching, or fighting between deer does not transmit EHD.
EHD moves fast and hits hard. Once a deer shows symptoms, the disease typically progresses quickly. Infected deer often die within a week, and in severe cases within just a few days.
Humans cannot catch EHD. Not from deer, not from venison, not from midge bites, not from any form of contact. It is exclusively a disease of deer and other hoofed animals.
There's currently no treatment program for EHD in wild deer, and wildlife officials aren't planning widespread intervention. It simply isn't practical for a disease that spreads this way through a wild population. The encouraging part is that even in a rough year, local deer herds have historically bounced back within a few seasons.
No. EHD only affects hoofed animals like deer, and occasionally cattle or sheep. Dogs, cats, and other household pets cannot contract it, even if they come across a carcass or get bitten by the same midges.
You can report it to the Wisconsin DNR Wildlife Switchboard so they can track the outbreak's spread. If you need to move the carcass yourself, wear gloves, avoid direct contact with blood or fluids, and wash your hands afterward, the same precautions you'd take with any wild animal.
Not in the way EHD is. Their bites can be itchy and irritating, similar to a mosquito bite, but no-see-ums don't transmit EHD or other serious diseases to humans or pets. They're mainly just a nuisance during outdoor evenings near water.
It's possible. EHD shows up in Wisconsin sporadically rather than every year, often depending on how hot and dry the summer is, since that tends to concentrate deer and midges around the same shrinking water sources. There's no way to predict it precisely, but local herds have historically recovered within a few seasons after a bad outbreak.
If you find a dead or visibly sick deer, especially near water, you can report it to the Wisconsin DNR Wildlife Switchboard. Beyond that, there's really nothing homeowners need to do to protect themselves. EHD simply isn't a human health issue.
What you can do something about is the midge population in your own yard. No-see-ums thrive around standing water and shaded, damp areas, the same conditions that make backyards near lakes and wetlands so appealing to them. It's one of the reasons we built our All Natural Insect Service to target no-see-ums along with mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas, so your yard stays a place you actually want to be through the rest of the season.
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