A Virginia fisherman came across something in the water that he wasn’t about to catch with a line and hook. Catching his eye on the water’s edge, angler Luke Yates spotted a deceased deer without any noticeable physical injuries floating in the water.
According to reports, he immediately suspected disease to be the culprit following confirmation from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries about the presence of the deadly hemorrhagic disease.
After popping up in Tennessee, Kentucky and many other areas in the east, while somewhat common this time of year, the presence of the disease in more northern locales is a rare occurrence.
The department announced last week that it has fielded a number of reports of dead or dying deer exhibiting symptoms of EHD from citizens in many areas of Virginia. While there is no cure or vaccine for the disease, the good news is that outbreaks tend to die off rather quickly after the first frost of each season.
As the weather cools, temperatures kill the small midge flies that are responsible for transmitting the disease to whitetails.
