Michigan tracks worst deadly deer disease outbreak since 2012

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan is experiencing its worst outbreak of a potentially deadly deer disease in more than a decade.

The Kent County Road Commission picks up deer on the side of the road that have died due to a collision with a vehicle. This September, they were very busy.

“We saw 318 deer that we picked up for the month of September in 2023 versus now we’ve seen 364 deer that we’ve picked up in September for 2024,” Steve Roon, director of maintenance and local road construction for the Kent County Road Commission, said.

All the dead deer can put a strain on resources.

“Takes away from our primary focus. We want to be out there fixing the roads where we need to,” Roon said.

Not only are they seeing more deer roadside, but more people are calling about deer they have found on their property, which the road commission does not provide services for.

“You can allow deer to have nature take its course and decay on your property. You can burn or bury those carcasses. As well as for a small fee, there’s a lot of private entities out there,” Roon said.

What exactly is causing more dead deer can be tough to pinpoint, but the increases in Kent County come at the same time as the state’s worst Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease or EHD outbreak since 2012.

“Typically this virus doesn’t show up until early fall, September timeframe. Where this year it showed up in late July,” said Chad Fedewa, acting deer specialist for the DNR Wildlife Division. “There seems to be every eight to 10-12 years the conditions just happen to be right for these larger outbreaks.”

EHD is considered a common viral disease that mostly impacts white-tailed deer and is not a threat to humans, pets, or other wildlife.

Deer contract it through bites from an infected midge fly. Symptoms can include loss of appetite, weakness or fever. In severe cases, the disease can lead to death.

“It happens very quickly. So when a deer becomes infected and develops symptoms, they can be dead in a couple of days,” Fedewa said.

The disease has been confirmed through testing in 11 counties, most of them in south and southwest Michigan, and Fedewa believes that number can grow.

It’s mostly found in deer near water sources, where a midge fly can lay eggs in mud.

“We do find it clustered in certain parts of counties. It’s not necessarily county-wide having huge impacts on local deer numbers, but that’s certainly the case in some areas,” Fedewa said.

Fedewa says while it may hurt deer populations where the disease is prevalent, the impact shouldn’t be long-term.

“You’ll certainly see less deer but typically populations rebound in a couple of years,” Fedewa said.

So far, there have been more than 2,000 reports of deer with EHD through the DNR’s ‘ Eyes in The Field ‘ online reporting system. If you see a deer you believe contracted or died from EHD the DNR wants you to report it.

In 2012, there were around 15,000 deer reported with the disease.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.