BLAKE NICHOLSON
Bismarck Tribune
North Dakota wildlife officials are working to determine the extent of epizootic hemorrhagic disease in deer in the southwestern part of the state, three years after a major outbreak of the illness led to large-scale deer die-offs and had a big impact on the hunting season.
Since late August there have been scattered reports of EHD deaths, primarily in northern Stark County — the Dickinson region, according to the state Game and Fish Department. It’s a viral disease that’s transmitted by biting gnats. It’s present in North Dakota at a low level most years, but sometimes environmental conditions such as drought create perfect breeding areas for the insects, and deer deaths mount.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Drought Mitigation Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shows much of southwestern North Dakota in moderate to severe drought.
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That could be a reason for the EHD cases, according to Game and Fish Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Charlie Bahnson.
“Another factor is it has been a handful of years since that area was affected,” he said. “Usually after an outbreak you have a couple of years where there is still in the (deer) population some immunity that makes it hard for the virus to circulate. It’s been about four years out — we expect that immunity to have waned.”
EHD cases in North Dakota in most years are fairly localized.
“The combined outbreak in 2020 and 2021 was probably the worst in memory, with extensive mortality across much of western North Dakota,” Bahnson said. “So far, we’re nowhere close to that level, but we have received around 20 reports, primarily focused across northern Stark County.”
Charlie Bahnson, wildlife veterinarian with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department
PROVIDED, N.D. GAME & FISH DEPT.
In 2021 the disease impacted most of western and central North Dakota, with the heaviest concentration of reports along the Missouri River, especially to the north and south of Bismarck-Mandan. The state received more than 1,200 reports of dead deer. About 10% of eligible North Dakota deer hunters — about 3,000 — requested a refund of their license that fall.
License refunds also were offered during lesser outbreaks in 2020 and 2011. About 4.5% of eligible hunters — around 400 — requested refunds in 2020; about 2% of eligible hunters (300) did so in 2011.
Game and Fish is not yet at the point of determining whether license refunds are warranted in any hunting units this year. The department is asking members of the public including hunters to report any sick or dead deer through an online reporting system at gf.nd.gov/mortality-report, and include photos if possible, to help officials gauge the severity of the situation this fall.
“In some cases, we may need to collect samples off fresh carcasses, so please notify the department as soon as possible,” Bahnson said.
So far this fall there have been no reports of suspected EHD deaths along the Missouri River.
“The footprint that we saw in 2021, it doesn’t seem to be that far north or east this year,” Bahnson said.
The disease impacts white-tailed deer more than mule deer, due to the makeup of the animals. There is no evidence the virus can infect people, according to the National Park Service and the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University. But Game and Fish advises hunters to not shoot or consume a deer that appears sick.
North Dakota’s archery season for deer opened Aug. 30 and continues through next Jan. 5. The main deer gun hunting season opens on Friday, Nov. 8, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 24.
“We’re hopeful that cold temperatures over the weekend will help slow things down, but it typically takes a series of hard frosts to kill the gnats and completely end an outbreak,” Bahnson said.
The first hard frost — a temperature of 28 degrees or lower — is typically in early October for most of North Dakota. A hard freeze is not in the forecast for the Dickinson region this week, according to the National Weather Service.
But Bahnson said cold temperatures that aren’t at the level of a hard frost will still slow the EHD virus. “So between now and when we get some hard frosts, we ask for people to be a little extra vigilant when they’re out and about,” he said.
In 2021 — the worst EHD year in recent memory — the disease onset occurred in early August, about a month earlier than this year, and frosts were about 1 ½ months behind average, making that year particularly bad, according to Bahnson. The apparent later onset this year as well as lower deer densities are “less conducive to the virus tearing across the landscape,” he said.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 01:00:00
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