Hundreds of Deer Dead In Iowa Due to Virus

One Iowa county is seeing a dramatic increase in deer deaths due to a virus outbreak.

According to WHOTV, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources say that a virus is killing hundreds of deer in Warren County. More than 400 deer have been found dead, as of late August and those numbers are expected to continue to rise. In fact, the report states that the Iowa DNR believe that those numbers will increase as hunters go out for the season and find more dead deer.

What's the virus causing all of this? WHOTV states that epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) is to blame. An article on the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission website says that the virus is transmitted through "biting flies or midges in the group. Female midges pick up the viruses by ingesting the blood of an infected animal and they then transmit the viruses when they feed on an uninfected animal."

The virus causes high fever, organ issues, and a long list of other symptoms. The infected deer usually die within a few days, but it can become a chronic disease in some cases

The good news is that it seems to be concentrated in the Warren County area. The bad news is that there is no cure for the terrible virus, according to one state's Gaming Commission. All we can really do is try to prevent it from spreading further.