For decades hunters have taken their abundant whitetail deer herds for granted. Often very liberal bag limits are implemented to keep populations under control. Recently, several diseases have cropped up that cause concern both for humans and wildlife.
Epizoodic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) can dramatically reduce deer populations, while Chronic Wasting Disease is a threat to venison as a food source. Three new cases have been detected in Virginia’s deer herd. Here’s the latest from WRIC and ABC news.
Virginia game department officials say three new cases of chronic wasting disease were detected in white-tailed deer in northwestern Virginia during the 2014 hunting season.
The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries says the disease was detected for the first time in Shenandoah County in a buck that was killed by a vehicle near the Frederick County line. Two other bucks shot by hunters tested positive for the disease in eastern Frederick County near the West Virginia border.
The department says it plans to change the boundary of the current chronic wasting disease containment area for the 2015 hunting season to include the entire counties of Shenandoah, Frederick, Warren, and Clarke. The disease was found in West Virginia’s Hampshire County in 2005 and spread to Hardy County in 2010.
