EHD virus found in deer in Chester County; public asked to report dead deer. Here's why

The Pa. Game Commission is investigating an Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) outbreak in deer in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Travis Lau, communications director for the agency, said the fatal disease was confirmed Friday in one deer in Chester County.

The agency has also conducted tests on two other deer and the results are still pending as of Tuesday morning.

“Additionally, three other dead deer from Chester County were reported to us locally, but samples were not pulled from those because it wouldn’t have been possible to detect EHD through tests due to advanced decomposition,” he said.

All of the deer were found in Chester County, specifically South Coventry, East Nantmeal and Warwick townships.

The agency reports Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease is a virus that can kill deer in the late summer months. It is transmitted by biting flies or midges and the outbreaks usually end when a frost kills the insects.

Last September, the PGC investigated 30 to 40 deer that were found dead from Hemorrhagic Disease in the vicinity of State Game Lands 214 in North Shenango and Sadsbury townships, Crawford County.

More: Does that unusual deer have CWD, EHD, warts or something else? How to tell in Pennsylvania

Lau asks the public to report findings of dead deer to their dispatch center at 1-833-PGC-HUNT to help monitor the scope of a situation.

“If you find a deer without any noticeable wounds or visible injuries, EHD could be a cause,” he said. “That’s something we want to know.”

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors .

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: EHD virus found in deer in Chester County; public asked to report dead deer. Here's why