DEC finding fatal deer disease in N.Y., suspected in Jefferson County

in Animals/Enviroment/Health/Local News 582 views

WATERTOWN — The state Department of Environmental Conservation has found cases of a fatal disease in deer in several counties and now suspects it’s in Jefferson County.

The state DEC on Thursday confirmed Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Nassau, Oswego, Suffolk, and Ulster counties. DEC is tracking suspected cases in Albany, Jefferson, Oneida, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties. To date, the DEC has received reports of approximately 700 dead deer.

The virus is typically a fatal disease for deer that is transmitted by biting midges, which are small insects sometimes called no-see-ums or ‘punkies.’ The disease is not spread from deer to deer and humans cannot be infected by deer or bites from midges.

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