Tests confirm hemorrhagic disease is killing deer.Byline: From Register-Guard and news service reports Lab results have confirmed that a viral disease is behind the recent die-off of at least 30 mule deer in the Crooked River Ranch area northwest of Redmond. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. (ODFW ODFW Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife ) said tests showed the deer died of adenovirus adenovirus Any of a group of spheroidal viruses, made up of DNA wrapped in a protein coat, that cause sore throat and fever in humans, hepatitis in dogs, and several diseases in fowl, mice, cattle, pigs, and monkeys. hemorrhagic Hemorrhagic A condition resulting in massive, difficult-to-control bleeding. Mentioned in: Hantavirus Infections hemorrhagic pertaining to or characterized by hemorrhage. disease (AHD). All of the affected deer were found within a 15-mile radius of Crooked River Ranch in early May. "Although the virus is not well-understood, we do know that it is highly contagious among deer and likely spreads in areas of high deer concentration, particularly where people feed and water deer," said Steven George, the ODFW's Deschutes District wildlife biologist. "For that reason, it's important that people not feed or water deer." AHD is one of three hemorrhagic diseases that affect deer. All have similar symptoms that can include rapid or open-mouth breathing, foaming or drooling drooling the discharge of saliva from the mouth. A normal feature in some breeds of dogs such as St. Bernard, Newfoundland and English bulldog, presumably because of their loose, pendulous lips. at the mouth, coughing, ulcers or sores in the mouth, diarrhea, weakness and emaciation emaciation /ema·ci·a·tion/ (e-ma?she-a´shun) a wasted condition of the body. e·ma·ci·a·tion n. The process of losing so much flesh as to become extremely thin; wasting. . There is no evidence that humans, domestic pets and livestock can acquire the disease, which mainly affects mule, black-tailed and white-tailed deer. Clinical tests conducted in California indicated transmission of AHD is by direct contact between deer and could possibly be airborne, infecting nearby deer. The disease can have as short as a three-day incubation time, and deer can die two to five days after exposure. The virus doesn't always kill the deer, but delayed death could result because they are weakened *and more susceptible to other infections. A large percentage of deer that get the virus will die. The disease first appeared in 1993 in California, where an AHD outbreak killed several thousand deer, as well as some pronghorn antelope pronghorn antelope a fast-moving, wild North American ruminant with hollow core, branched horns which shed their outer sheath each year. Called also Antilocapra americana. . The first confirmed case of AHD in Oregon came in Harney County in 1999, and the disease is known to be present in Benton, Linn, Lane, Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties. It is one of two deer diseases that have biologists concerned about Oregon's deer population. The other is deer hair-loss syndrome, which appears to be more widespread than AHD. |
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