Oct 17, 2007 7:57 pm US/Eastern
Drought Causes Deadly Disease In Deer
by Alex DeMetrick
(WJZ)
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The cause is tiny gnats that carry the disease, which appears to flare into outbreaks during droughts. (AP)
AP
Our continuous drought may be doing more than drying up lawns and killing crops.
As
Alex DeMetrick reports, it could be triggering an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Maryland's deer population.
Dry, warm days may seem idyllic for wildlife, but for Maryland's deer, the drought may well be triggering a gruesome disease.
"It causes hemorrhaging of the internal organs. It just kills them. It's pretty quick-acting," Brian Eyler, leader of the DNR Deer Project said.
Symptoms of the hemorrhagic fever are dazed animals with their tongues hanging out, open ulcers in the mouth and tongue, and severe emaciation and weakness prior to death.
The cause is tiny gnats that carry the disease, which appears to flare into outbreaks during droughts.
"There's no scientific evidence to that nature, but yes, it probably is related to the drought. You have limited water, and deer congregate at those water sources that are left. That's where gnats are, and more than likely that's when the disease spreads," Eyler said.
Outbreaks have been spotted in Western Maryland, but it's been worse on the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland where the drought has hit hardest.
Gnats around water sources do not spread the disease to people. Only deer remain vulnerable until temperatures drop.
The last time there was an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Maryland's deer was 2002, the year of our previous drought.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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