UPDATE: Bernards Deer Apparently Disease Stricken

Township police report having received about two dozen reports over the past week on deer that may be displaying signs of an outbreak of a species-specific disease, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), that state officials assure is not a danger to humans.

The dying or dead deer are often found close to water sources as they try to drink due to internal hemorrhaging that is caused by the disease or their feverish condition, according to police and state reports. That may be why some people have been associating the dying deer with drinking from local water supplies, noted Township Police Lt. Ted Reese, in a response to a question about residents reporting the dead deer.

EHD is a viral infection that is spread by the bite of a midge or gnat that has been infected with the virus, according to information issued by township police, and also on the township website.

A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Larry Ragonese, on Thursday morning said that state field inspectors have tested deer in nearby Harding Township, in Morris County, and in the Great Swamp area, and they have tested positive for the disease. However, he said the state had no reports from Bernards Township specificially as of that time.

The virus does not affect humans and is not transmissible to humans, assured state and local health officials. EHD is common in the southeast portion of the country, the website said. Deer suffering from EHD  exhibit the following symptoms: loss of fear of humans, swelling of the head, neck, and tongue, respiratory distress, internal hemorrhaging and death within days of infection, according to information from both the state DEP, and also on the township website.

Ragonese said that he cannot say how many deer have died in the area as of this time. However, he said that Bernards is an area that will more likely have midges, small insects that live in the mud of the Passaic River watershed. He said the infected insects will die off as the weather cools into temperatures in the 40s through the 60s and will completely die off in freezing weather.

At that point, the insects will not longer infect the deer, which he said die fairly quickly of the disease. EHD outbreaks are periodic and sporadic, and there is no reason to believe it will return to the area next spring, Ragonese said.

According to the Bernards Township Department of Health, residents are responsible for disposing of deer which die on their property. However, they also can report dead deer — or those displaying symptoms of EHD _ to township police. The message then will be passed along to the health department, which will contact the state, which then may decide to test the deer remains to confirm whether the animal died of EHD, according to the health department.

Under normal circumstances, police involvement with dead or dying deer is almost always related to deer involved in vehicle accidents, said a statement issued by Reese. "When we respond to a dead deer on a roadway within the township, we determine whether the roadway is a county or municipal roadway. We then contact the appropriate deer carcass removal contractor," he said.

However, Reese added that EHD has created an abnormal situation with an increse in dead deer. "We are contacting our deer carcass removal contractors, as per our policy, for all dead deer found on township roadways," he said in an email on Thursday morning.

Removal of deer that die on private property are the responsibility of the property owner, including the cost of the deer removal, he said. Residents that need to have dead deer removed from private property can contact D&N RECOVERY 908-876-3341, police suggested.

Residents also can file a direct report of sighted deer exhibiting signs of EHD, such as difficulty standing, drooling, emitting foam from the mouth or nose, or dead deer with no apparent wounds, observed in or near water, to the Division's Office of Fish and Wildlife Health Forensics by calling Bill Stansley at (908) 236-2118 or Carole Stanko at (908) 735-7040.

Earlier in August, the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife advised hunters and other outdoors enthusiasts in the East Amwell, Hopewell and Hillsborough areas of west-central New Jersey to be alert for white-tailed deer that wildlife biologists believe are experiencing symptoms of EHD, described as a localized virus.

"EHD is not a public health issue," according to a news release from the DEP. "It cannot be transmitted to people, and humans are not at risk by handling infected deer, being bitten by infected midges, or eating infected deer meat."

Nevertheless, in the news release, the Division of Fish and Wildlife strongly advises against consuming meat from any game animal that appears ill. Ragonese said such advice is standard, and a hunter should not worry about consuming meat from an animal that may have been infected, but not yet displaying symptoms. He said any experienced hunter could recognize that the infected deer are not healthy.

Although livestock can be infected with EHD, the disease is relatively benign in livestock and is likely to go unnoticed, according to the DEP.

"A number of people have reported seeing deer that exhibit signs of EHD," said David Chanda, Director of the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife. "The Division is asking the public to report any deer showing symptoms of the disease to help us monitor the impact on the local deer herd."

EHD is a common viral disease in deer that is contracted from the bite of a species of midge known as Culiocoides sonorensis. It does not spread from deer to deer. EHD outbreaks end with the onset of colder weather, which will kill midges that spread the disease. New Jersey has documented occasional, localized outbreaks of EHD in different parts of the state for more than 50 years, with the last occurring in fall 2010 in Salem County, the DEP said.

Deer typically die within 5 to ten days of infection. Infected deer initially lose their appetite and fear of people. They grow progressively weaker and often salivate excessively. As the disease progresses, infected deer breathe heavily and develop a fever. Fever-ridden deer may go to water to drink or in an attempt to cool off. Eight to 36 hours following the onset of observable signs, the infected deer pass into a shock-like state, become prostrate and die.