Drought & EHD, are they Correlated?

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) is cropping up in many parts of the whitetail’s range. Just within the last week I have noticed reports of EHD in parts of Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. EHD is a virus transmitted by a biting midge that lives along the muddy shores of ponds and creeks. Most of the deer that die from an EHD outbreak will be found near water, as they are trying to relieve themselves from the fever it causes. You often hear about EHD hitting in drought years as more mud is exposed from drying ponds and creeks, which increases midge habitat. Here is a link that found there was a correlation between EHD and extreme drought, but it was dependent on latitude. This means that in the deep south there was no correlation with EHD and drought, but in the far north there was a stronger correlation. What can you do to help your herd? If they get into the late clinical stages, there is really nothing that can be done to bring a deer back from the grave. What we can do, however, is try to prevent many would-be deaths from ever reaching clinical stage of infection.

How can this be accomplished? Ani-Shield TX4® is the answer. Ani-Shield TX4® is a blend of essential oils, probiotics, chelated micro minerals, and vitamins that are all working together to boost immune system function. When the immune system is healthy prior to being bitten, deer have a better chance of coming out alive. The determining factor of whether a deer will live or die is their pre-disease nutritional status. If they are weak going into late summer/early fall, they will not be able to fight the virus as much as if they were in peak physical shape. 

The tricky part is giving your deer herd enough feed and minerals that they are prepared for an EHD outbreak before they are bitten by the midge carrying the virus. Using Mineral Dirt® 180 in the growing season and granular protein feed such as Ani-Supplement® Gold or CRUSH® Attractants in the late summer/early fall can really be a game changer in terms of lowering death loss. It’s not a vaccine, but I can tell you that Lee Lakosky reported only a few cases of EHD on his thousands of acres while the neighbors just a few miles away had catastrophic losses.  

If you happen to be in an area that has already encountered major death loss, the best thing you can do to help your herd rebound is to supplementally feed. Here is a link to a study that showed does produce more fawns when given access to supplemental feed. Losing deer to EHD is unfortunate, but with help from a balanced diet, you can see a healthy deer herd in a much shorter time frame than if you let the herd rebound without support.