Other Deer Disease: Research and News
[Not Chronic Wasting of Hemorrhagic]
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Research
Scientists make frightening finding after analyzing droppings from variety of wild animals June 29, 2025 The Cool Down on MSN
... A survey of poop from critters such as deer, wild boar, and martens showed sometimes high levels of microplastics...
Gross Pathology and Epidemiological Features of Mule Deerpox Virus Infections in Farmed White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Florid - Veterinary Microbiology, 2025
... Mule deerpox virus (DPV) is a member of the Poxviridae family that affects various deer species, causing crustaceous skin lesions and potentially lethal infections ... Focusing on 145 animals with DPV-like lesions ... 49 out of 145 deer (33.8%, 95% CI: 25.7%-40.9%) tested positive for DPV. Mule deerpox virus was identified in 20 of the 37 counties and 8 of the 10 deer management units (DMUs) ... The findings emphasize the need for enhanced disease surveillance ...
New World Screwworm (NWS), Call to Action June 18, 2025, Saba News & Star
... The most current success story of the use of macrocyclic lactones is the use of Dectomax in the eradication of NWS in the endangered Key deer in 2016-2017... studies provide strong and consistent evidence that macrocyclic lactones, particularly ivermectin and doramectin (Dectomax), are effective agents in the treatment and control of NWS...
Trial to protect wild deer against bovine TB shows high uptake rates February 18, 2025 WCMU Public Radio
... researchers deployed 1,500 oral vaccines, hidden in cubes with shredded hay and molasses ... deer across 16 study sites consumed roughly 60% of the medicine... t if those deer receive the vaccine, then they would have good protection ...
Oral delivery of bovine tuberculosis vaccine to free-ranging white-tailed deer - Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2025
... Free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are a self-sustaining reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in northeastern lower Michigan, (United States) continually putting the area’s cattle industry at risk ... Deer learned to seek out and consume vaccine DU’s in just one to three days, with individuals often eating more than the 1 or 2 needed to vaccinate themselves. This high level of consumption was in spite of an exceptionally warm and dry winter, where deer were less food stressed than usual...
Prevalence and Diversity of Piroplasms in Free-ranging Ruminants in Nevada, USA - Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2024
... Free-ranging ruminants in Nevada are infected with a high diversity of piroplasms, several of which are zoonotic or reported to cause disease in both wild and domestic ruminants...
Texas A&M Researchers See Success In First Tests Of Oral Anthrax Vaccine In White-Tailed Deer October 30, 2024 Texas A&M Today - Texas A&M University
... Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) are closer to developing an oral vaccine for anthrax thanks to a recent study showing an immune response in white-tailed deer...
MSU experts research for vaccinating wild animals July 8, 2024 Michigan, WILX-TV on MSN
... to help prevent the spread of Bovine tuberculosis ... trying to target a large number of free-roaming wild animals like whitetail deer... They plan to place the medicine in various baits that would be dropped in a target region...
Parasitic Worms Spread by Flies Identified as Potential Cause Behind Dwindling American Moose Populatin June 1, 2024 Idaho, The Western Journal on MSN
... Research published in March in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases found a parasitic worm, Elaeophora schneideri, in half of the dead adult Shiras moose studied in southeastern Idaho, although it wasn't found in any of the moose bodies investigated in the northern part of the state...
Bovine tuberculosis study ‘came together really well,’ according to DNR official April 10, 2024 Michigan, The Alpena News
... The deer have taken the vaccine and Sewell said it takes about six weeks before a deer’s immune system has created any response to the vaccine... this is the first time the tuberculosis vaccine has been given to wild deer in the U.S...
Wildlife Managers Are Hiding Meds in Alfalfa to Vaccinate Wild Deer April 1, 2024 Michigan, Yahoo
... a field study in Alpena County that involves dropping treat balls filled with oral vaccines for bovine tuberculosis around browsing habitat to see if they help prevent the respiratory disease in whitetails ... The expectation is that deer will sniff out the clusters of alfalfa and molasses in their feeding areas and eat them ...
Bovine TB vaccination trial March 21, 2024 State of Michigan
... From late February to April 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture – Wildlife Services (USDA-WS) will deploy vaccine delivery units (VDUs) at selected sites in part of Alpena County, Michigan, to evaluate the ability to deliver an oral bovine tuberculosis (bTB) vaccine to wild deer...
Linking weather conditions and winter tick abundance in moose - The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2024 [PDF]
... Over the last decades,the number of moose(Alcesamericanus) infested by winter ticks(Dermacentoralbipictus)has increased in eastern Canada ... .Our results suggest that climate change may have a positive long‐term influence on winter tick abundance in the environment and thereby increase winter tick load o nmoose, which could lead to a significant decrease in moose body condition and survival...
Wildlife vaccination strategies for eliminating bovine tuberculosis in white-tailed deer populations
A Pandey, AB Feuka, M Cosgrove, M Moriarty… - PLOS Computational Biologu, 2024
... We evaluated the impact of pulse vaccination across a range of vaccine properties. Pulse vaccination was effective for reducing disease prevalence rapidly with even low (30%) to moderate (60%) vaccine coverage of the susceptible and exposed deer population and was further improved when combined with increased harvest... By fitting the model to the core endemic area of bovine tuberculosis in Michigan, USA, we identified feasible integrated management strategies involving vaccination and increased harvest that reduced disease prevalence in free-ranging deer...
Research sheds light on how brainworm is killing Minnesota's moose September 3, 2023 MPR News
... The moose population in the Arrowhead region in the northeastern corner of the state has plummeted over the past 15 years ... Scientists have long believed brainworm infected grazing moose when the animals ingested tiny gastropods, slugs and snails, that live on the forest floor... confirmed in published study in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases...
Latest Covid Twist: Coronavirus Is Spreading In Deer, Study Finds—And Many Are Getting It From Humans August 28, 2023 Ohio, Forbes
... a study published Monday in the journal Nature Communications ... Scientists collected 1,522 nasal swabs from free-ranging deer in 83 of Ohio’s 88 counties between November 2021 and March 2022, tested those swabs and found more than 10% of the samples were infected with coronavirus, according to the study...
Mineral licks may be to blame for deer infecting moose with deadly parasite Minnesota August 18, 2023 Quetico Superior Foundation
... new research, published in the journal Food Webs, studied how parasites carried by deer are transmitted to moose ... “We posit that deer and moose co-occur at discrete landscape features such as mineral licks, natural springs, and seeps, that create opportunities for high density contacts among deer, moose, and gastropods,” ...
A third of US deer have had COVID—and they infected humans at least 3 times July 13, 2023 Ars Technica
... new study ... People in the US transmitted the pandemic coronavirus to white-tailed deer at least 109 times, and the animals widely spread the virus among themselves, with a third of the deer tested in a large government-led study showing signs of prior infection. The work also suggests that the ubiquitous ruminants returned the virus to people in kind at least three times...
Deer mastadenovirus B pneumonia in a white-tailed deer fawn 2023 Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
... A 7-mo-old farmed white-tailed deer fawn (Odocoileus virginianus) died after several weeks of progressive deterioration associated with endoparasitism and respiratory signs... To our knowledge, natural clinical disease associated with OdAdV2 has not been reported previously...
Deer may be reservoir for SARS-Cov-2 variants, study suggests February 6, 2023 New York, Veterinary Practice News
... The study, “White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) May Serve as a Wildlife Reservoir for Nearly Extinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern,” ... focused on the deer population in New York. “One of the most striking findings of this study was the detection of co-circulation of three variants of concern–alpha, gamma and delta–in this wild animal population,” ,,, when they were found in deer, neither variant had been detected in humans in New York for four to six months...
Exposure of white-tailed deer in North America to influenza D virus 2022 - Virology
... This study provides serological evidence supporting the exposure of the white-tailed deer population in North America to influenza D viruses...
A survey of piroplasms in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the southeastern United States to determine their possible role as Theileria orientalis hosts. 2022 - Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildlife
... In this study, we tested 552 white-tailed deer samples from the southeastern U.S. to determine the presence of T. orientalis ... All 552 samples were then screened with a T. orientalis specific real-time PCR protocol, but none were positive for T. orientalis...
Transmission history of SARS-CoV-2 in humans and white-tailed deer - Scientific Reports, 2022
... We found no evidence of direct or indirect transmission from deer to human... The extensive transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within deer populations and the large number of unsampled cases highlights the need for active surveillance at the human–animal interface...
German and Austrian deer thus far spared SARS-CoV-2 infections, unlike US deer April 1, 2022 Phys.org
... The research is reported in the journal Microorganisms in a special issue on viruses of wild mammals... None of the deer from Germany or Austria were positive...
No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in the U.K.'s wild deer population March 31, 2022 News Medical
... A new study accepted for publication in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Diseases ... Of the 1,748 serum samples tested ... there was no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure
Researchers find humans have given wild animals their diseases nearly 100 times March 22, 2022 Phys.org11h
... In a study published March 22 in Ecology Letters ("Assessing the risk of human-to-wildlife pathogen transmission for conservation and public health"), the authors describe nearly one hundred different cases where diseases have undergone "spillback" from humans back into wild animals, much like how SARS-CoV-2 has been able to spread in mink farms, zoo lions and tigers, and wild white-tailed deer...
From Deer-to-Deer: SARS-CoV-2 is Efficiently Transmitted and Presents Broad Tissue Tropism and Replication Sites in White-Tailed Deer March 22, 2022 PubMed.gov
... reported natural infection/exposure rates approaching 30-40% in free-ranging WTD in the U.S... efficient deer-to-deer transmission on day 3 pi. Consistent a with lack of infectious SARS-CoV-2 shedding after day 5 pi, no transmission was observed to contact animals added on days 6 and 9 pi. ...
Highly divergent white-tailed deer SARS-CoV-2
with potential deer-to-human transmission February 25, 2022 Canada, bioRxiv preprint.
... Wildlife reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 can lead to viral adaptation and spillback from wildlife to humans (Oude Munnink et al., 2021). In North America, there is evidence of spillover of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to whitetailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), but no evidence of transmission from deer to humans (Hale et al., 2021;Kotwa et al., 2022; Kuchipudi et al., 2021)... Phylogenetic analysis revealed an epidemiologically linked human case from the same geographic region and sampling period...
If You Haven’t Thought About Coronavirus in Animals, You Should February 22, 2022 New York Times
... , the trickle of cases in new species became a flood: cats and dogs in homes and mink on farms. The virus infiltrated zoos, infecting the usual suspects (tigers and lions) ... Dr. Han and her colleagues ultimately identified 540 mammalian species that were most likely to host and spread the coronavirus...
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B. 1.1. 529) infection of white-tailed deer 2022. bioRxiv
... SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid was detected in nasal
swabs from seven of 68 (10.29%; 95% CI: 0.0–0.20) of the sampled deer, and whole-genome sequencing identified the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron VoC (B.1.1.529) is circulating amongst the white-tailed deer on Staten Island...
Multiple spillovers from humans and onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer. 2022 PNAS
... To test the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 is circulating in deer, 283 retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN) samples collected from 151 freeliving and 132 captive deer in Iowa from April 2020 through January of 2021 were assayed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Ninety-four of the 283 (33.2%) deer samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA as assessed by RT-PCR. Notably, following the November 2020 peak of human cases in Iowa, and coinciding with the onset of winter and the peak deer hunting season, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 80 of 97 (82.5%) RPLN samples collected over a 7-wk period...
... As SARS-CoV-2 vaccine coverge of the human population increases and variants of concern continue to emerge, identification of the epidemiologic importance of animal virus reservoirs is critical. We found that nearly all (94.4%) of the captive white-tailed deer at a cervid facility in central Texas had neutralizing antibodies for SARS-CoV-2...
Wild white-tailed deer in the US are infected with COVID and it may come from contaminate water January 3, 2022 Daily Mail
... Although experts have not confirmed how these wild animals are contracting COVID, the leading hypothesis is that deer are drinking contaminated water - research shows the virus lingers in human feces and wastewater...
Widespread Coronavirus Infection Found in Iowa Deer, New Study Says November 2, 2021 New York Times
... A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected with the coronavirus in Iowa has found that the animals probably are contracting the virus from humans, and then rapidly spreading it among one another, according to researchers...
Results of Study on SARS-CoV-2 in White-Tailed Deer September, 2021
... a study that analyzed serum samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Results of the study indicate that certain white-tailed
deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and
Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2...
Cross-sectional study of British wild deer for evidence of Schmallenberg virus infection
RM Southwell, K Sherlock, M Baylis - Veterinary Record, 2020
... Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is an orthobunyavirus, carried by Culicoides biting midges, that causes reproductive problems in adult ruminants ... The seroprevalence of SBV in the British wild deer population was 13.8 per cent; found in red, roe, muntjac and fallow deer species, with more in deer further south...
Susceptibility of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to SARS-CoV-2 March, 2021 Journal of Virology
... infected animals transmitted the virus to non-inoculated contact deer. Viral RNA was detected in multiple tissues 21 days post-inoculation (pi). All inoculated and indirect contact animals seroconverted and developed neutralizing antibodies as early as day 7 ...
Persistent Spillback Of Bovine Tuberculosis From White-tailed Deer to Cattle in Michigan, USA: Status, Strategies and Needs November, 2018 Frontiers in Veterinary Science
... Free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are believed to be a self-sustaining reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in northeastern Lower Michigan, USA... Heightened management actions to combat bTB in deer could include deer vaccination programs, strategic habitat manipulations to redistribute deer from farms, and precision removal of deer in proximity to high-risk farms...
A Headache from Our Past? Intracranial Abscess Disease, Virulence Factors of Trueperella pyogenes, and a Legacy of Translocating White-Tailed Deer BS Cohen, EH Belser, SP Keeler, MJ Yabsley… Georgia, - Journal of wildlife diseases, 2018
... Our findings suggest differences in the pathogenic potential of T. pyogenes at individual sites may help to explain spatial variability of this disease. Anecdotally, the incidence of cranial abscess disease in Georgia seems to be associated with areas that were restocked with white-tailed deer from a high-fenced property in Wisconsin, US. Given the spatial distribution of this disease, we speculate that these genetic differences in T. pyogenes may have arisen from white-tailed deer restocking efforts, and our observations may be a legacy of an introduced disease manifesting itself generations later...
Assessing Fifty Years of General Health Surveillance of Roe Deer in Switzerland: A Retrospective Analysis of Necropsy Reports M Pewsner, FC Origgi, J Frey, MP Ryser-Degiorgis - PloS one, 2017
... We compiled 1571 necropsy reports of free ranging roe deer examined at the Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health in Switzerland from 1958 to 2014. Descriptive data analysis was performed considering animal metadata, submitter, pathologist in charge, laboratory methods, morphological diagnoses and etiologies. Recurrent causes of mortality and disease pictures included pneumonia, diarrhea, meningoencephalitis, actinomycosis, blunt trauma, predation, neoplasms and anomalies. By contrast, other diagnoses such as fatal parasitic gastritis, suspected alimentary intoxication and reproductive disorders appeared only in earlier time periods ...
Control of bovine tuberculosis in a farmed red deer herd in England F Busch, F Bannerman, S Liggett, F Griffin, J Clarke… - Veterinary Record, 2017
This report describes how Mycobacterium bovis infection was controlled and eventually eradicated in a farmed red deer herd in the north of England, following sustained tuberculin skin testing supplemented with serological (antibody) tests over a period of approximately two years. ...
USDA Confirms New World Screwworm Cases in Big Pine Key October 3, 2016 Florida, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of New World screwworm in Key deer from a wildlife refuge in Big Pine Key, Florida. USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirms this is a local infestation of New World screwworm. This is the first local infestation in the United States in more than 30 years. In response to this infestation, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam today declared an agricultural state of emergency in Monroe County [ 893.36 KB ], Florida. More information on the screwworm is available at FreshFromFlorida.com.
Associations among Habitat Characteristics and Meningeal Worm Prevalence in Eastern South Dakota CN Jacques, JA Jenks, RW Klaver, SA Dubay - Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 2016
... in white-tailed deer ... Probability of meningeal worm infection increased by 1.3- and 1.6-fold for each 1-cm and 1-C increase in summer precipitation and spring temperature, respectively. Similarly, probability of infection increased 1.2-fold for each 1% increase in wetland habitat. Our findings highlight the importance of wetland habitat in predicting meningeal worm infection across eastern South Dakota ...
Management of on-farm risk to livestock from bovine tuberculosis in Michigan, USA, white-tailed deer: predictions from a spatially-explicit stochastic model DSL Ramsey, DJ O'Brien, RW Smith, MK Cosgrove… - Preventive Veterinary …, 2016
... The eradication of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, from cattle in many locations worldwide is complicated by endemic foci of the disease in free-ranging wildlife. Recent simulation modeling of the bTB outbreak in white-tailed deer (WTD) in Michigan, USA, suggests current management is unlikely to eradicate bTB from the core outbreak area (DMU 452) within the next three decades...
Evaluating a strategy to deliver vaccine to white‐tailed deer at a landscape level JW Fischer, CR Blass, WD Walter, CW Anderson… - Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2016
... During 17 February and 2 March 2011, we created a grid of experimental bait stations (n = 64) on Sandhill Wildlife Management Area, Wisconsin ... We found no correlation between bait consumption and deer density or the number of bait stations per deer. We provide the first information on use of baits by free-ranging deer and nontarget wildlife to eventually vaccinate deer against bTB at a landscape level...
Hidden in plain sight: Cryptic and endemic malaria parasites in North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) ES Martinsen, N McInerney, H Brightman, K Ferebee… - Science Advances, 2016
... Using both microscopy and polymerase chain reaction, we screened a large sample of native and captive ungulate species from across the United States for malaria parasites. We found a surprisingly high prevalence (up to 25%) and extremely low parasitemia of Plasmodium parasites in WTD throughout the eastern United States ...
Brain infection study reveals how disease spreads from gut August 3, 2015 Medical Xpress
... The study reveals how the proteins - called prions - spread from the gut to the brain after a person or animal has eaten contaminated meat ... Researchers at University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute studied the course of prion infection in mice... prion diseases include scrapie in sheep and chronic wasting disease in deer...
Environmental Factors Influencing White-Tailed Deer ... Shelli Dubay ... Plos One ... 2015
... White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are commonly exposed to disease agents that affect livestock but environmental factors that predispose deer to exposure are unknown ... Deer had evidence of exposure to PI3 (24.7%), IBR (7.9%), Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona (11.7%), L. i. bratislava (1.0%), L. i. grippotyphosa (2.5%) and L. i. hardjo (0.3%). Deer did not demonstrate exposure to L. interrogans serovars canicola and icterohaemorrhagiae...
Epizootiology of Cranial Abscess Disease in white-tailed Deer of Georgia S Cohen, EH Belser, CH Killmaster, JW Bowers… - Journal of wildlife diseases, 2015
... Model results indicated that the probability of a male having a cranial abscess increased with age and that adult sex ratio (male:female) was positively associated with this disease. Site-specific variables for land cover and soil types were not strongly associated with observations of the disease at the scale measured and a large amount of among-site variability remained...
First detection of adiaspiromycosis in the lungs of a deer.
K Matsuda, H Niki, A Yukawa, M Yanagi, K Souma… - The Journal of veterinary …, 2015
... Adiaspiromycosis is a pulmonary infection caused by the soil fungi, Emmonsia crescens and E. parva.. in the lungs of a female Hokkaido sika deer. This is the first reported case of adiaspiromycosis involving a cervid in the world...
Prevalence of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Antibodies Among White-Tailed Deer Populations in Maine JP Mutebi, M Godsey, RP Smith Jr, MR Renell, L Smith… - Vector-Borne and Zoonotic …, 2015
... Forty-seven of the 332 (14.2%) sera were positive for EEEV antibodies, showing a much wider distribution of EEEV activity in Maine than previously known... Our data suggest higher EEEV activity in central Maine compared to southern Maine, whereas EEEV activity in Maine has historically been associated with the southern counties of York and Cumberland...
Epizootiology of cranial abscess disease in white-tailed deer BS Cohen - 2014
... Cranial abscess disease is a cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly for mature, male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Most cases of cranial abscesses are associated with infection by Trueperella ... the patchy distribution of cranial abscess disease across Georgia is likely caused by differences in the genetics of the causative agent, T. pyogenes. White-tailed deer managers must recognize the potential to transport pathogenic bacteria and disease when relocating white-tailed deer...
HAIR-LOSS SYNDROME IN BLACK-TAILED DEER OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ... by RJ Bildfell - 2004 -
... including coastal bays, coastal mountains, central valley agricultural land, and urban areas. ..... Academic Press Inc., San Diego, California, pp. 677–680. ... Pediculosis of mule deer and white- tailed deer fawns in captivity. ... In Foreign animal diseases, Carter Printing Company, Richmond, Virginia, pp. ...
Study on pesticide impacts to deer cites Stevi researcher's work May 19, 2019 Montana, Ravalli Republic
... documented ... circumstantial evidence on birth defects on deer that could be associated with the pesticide... observations of deer with pronounced underbites and genital deformities ... Researchers found that animals with larger amounts of the pesticide in their spleen had pronounced underbites. Fawns also died...
Malaria parasites in white-tailed deer unlikely to affect humans February 8, 2015 Pennsylvania, WTOP
... Scientists studying mosquitoes at the National Zoo have discovered a previously unknown species of the malaria parasite in white-tailed deer... if you’re wondering if deer can spread malaria to other animals or people, Martinsen says, don’t be concerned. “It’s very unlikely that … these malaria parasites will switch into other mammal species, and it’s very highly unlikely that they will switch into humans.” ...
White-Tailed Deer Hosts Malaria Parasite inside it, But A Leap to Humans is Unlikely February 6, 2016 Maine, mainenewsonline.com
... Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's genetics center in Washington, D. C., were searching for the source of malaria parasites in birds at the national zoo... not known to cause any risk to humans ... Their find dashes the current belief that no mammals other than people in the Western Hemisphere carry their own native forms of malaria ...
White-tailed deer have their own form of malaria February 5, 2016 Science News
... The malaria parasite in deer is a completely different species from the ones that cause disease in humans. A report in 1967 based on one deer in Texas had claimed that the parasite existed and a 1980 paper had named it Plasmodium odocoilei...The parasite has so far appeared at very low concentrations in animals’ blood ...
Local study published on developmental malformations in deer ...
November 3, 2011, Montana, Bitteroot Star, By victoria1
This long-term study was done with no funding, as a public service.... Underbite makes it difficult for a grazing animal to procure enough nutrition, the primary reason many of the females are unable to produce viable young and young animals fail to grow properly and gain weight after weaning... The authors attribute the widespread deformations to endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment that are associated with fetal thyroid dysfunction that results in such deformations... The study concludes that underbite and the other serious symptoms of fetal hypothyroidism are likely a significant factor in the decline of wild ruminant populations in Montana and other western states. [Gary Haas of Big Sky Beetle Works, and Dr. Pamela Hallock, a researcher and professor at the University of South Florida, recently published in the journal Wildlife Biology in Practice]
News
Deer at high risk for screwworm infection July 2, 2025 Texas, Farm Progress
... New World screwworm, which has reemerged in Mexico in recent months, poses a severe threat to wildlife populations, particularly white-tailed deer... population may decline 50% or more if NWS reestablishes ... “The raw pedicle left after antler shedding is very attractive to New World screwworms,” ...
Deer covered in fibromas growths spotted in Coldstream June 28, 2025 British Columbia, Castanet.net
... species-specific papillomavirus ... The deer looks shocking, covered in large growths, but North Okanagan wildlife expert Pete Wise said the virus actually does not kill the deer and is only harmful to the animal if it grows over their eyes or mouth...
Another screwworm incursion inevitable, experts warn June 10, 2025 The Wildlife Society
... Adult flies lay their eggs on the open wounds of animals—usually mammals. The eggs hatch into maggots—the screwworms—which proceed to gorge themselves on the healthy flesh of the unfortunate creature... Screwworm flies often target the areas around the antlers of deer... some estimates project a localized loss of a quarter of the population ...
Health officials search for people who may have had contact with rabid deer in Prince George's County March 1, 2025 Maryland, WUSA
... The deer was euthanized by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), but concerns the deer had contact with other animals or persons between Feb. 14, and Feb. 24 should be reported to the Prince George's County Health Department...
Hunters, take note: 'Do Not Eat' advisory issued in parts of Maine October 24, 2024, News Center Maine
...Known as “forever chemicals” since they are very slow to break down, PFAS persist in the environment ... two different regions that impact portions of Unity, Unity Township, Albion, and Freedom... New Hampshire, Michigan, and Wisconsin have also issued consumption advisories ...
Pesticides linked to local wildlife population decline September 24, 2024 Montana, Bitterroot Star
... Hoy and her husband first noticed a decline in the local deer population in 1995, accompanied by an unusual number of deer with malformations... Her latest article summarizes studies of elk populations in the region and reviews observations and reports, which emerged after 1994, of birth defects and declines in other ruminant populations in western states ...
Anthrax kills moose, more than 50 cattle, for first time in decades September 19, 2024 Wyoming, Platte County Record-Times
... Anthrax occurs naturally in soil but has not been documented in Wyoming in livestock since the 1970s and in wildlife since 1956. No humans have been infected, according to the Wyoming Department of Health...
WA Department of Fish and Wildlife sees uptick in calls about lumps on deer September 10, 2024 Washington, MyNorthwest.com
... the growths seen on deer are not a symptom of CWD and do not impact a deer’s health. “They’re similar to warts, cysts, moles, etc. that we get as humans in that they are externally visible but not generally a health threat,” ...
Game and Fish veterinarian shares insights on puffy-faced whitetail September 7, 2024 North Dakota, Grand Forks Herald
... The deer, with very noticeable puffiness on both sides of its face, reminded me of Dizzy Gillespie ... According to ... Dr. Charlie Bahnson, wildlife veterinarian for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck... the doe likely has “food impaction ... That results from partial facial paralysis most often attributed to infection with ‘arterial worms,’ ...
Anthrax detected in a moose near Elk Mountain September 4, 2024 Wyoming Game and Fish Department
... the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, confirmed a case of anthrax in a dead moose in Carbon County ... Anthrax is a naturally occurring bacterial disease that can be transmitted between livestock, wildlife and humans. It is most commonly seen in herbivores, including cattle, deer and bison ...
Researchers Say A Deer With “Hairy Eyeballs” Was Spotted In Suburban Tennessee August 30, 2024 Tennessee, TwistedSifter
... a year-old whitetail buck, and the hair covering its eyeballs is an example of a condition called corneal dermoids... the deer wandering in circles...
Deer infected with a case of warts at the Lower Similkameen Indian Band near Cawston August 21, 2024 British Columbia, Castanet
... At least one white-tailed deer has been seen infected with a strain of warts in the Lower Similkameen Indian Band area recently...
Deer in Lisbon tests positive for EEE virus August 21, 2024 Connecticut, Yahoo on MSN
... a white-tailed deer in Lisbon was infected with the eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus..,
N.S. researchers continue to map deer brain worms that kill moose August 5, 2024 Nova Scotia, CBC.ca
... Over half of white tail deer surveyed in Nova Scotia were infected by the meningeal worm ... "We're very interested in trying to find ways to manage the moose population so they don't go extinct on the mainland," said Shutler. "And now, of course, there's concerns about them going extinct in Cape Breton, given the dramatic decrease we've seen in populations." ...
Michigan bovine TB-positive deer prompt cattle testing May 20, 2024 Markets
... Because of the detection of bovine tuberculosis in wild deer from Benzie, Crawford and Otsego counties during the 2023 deer hunting season, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has designated two bovine TB testing areas...
Parasitic worm likely playing role in decline of moose populations May 15, 2024 Washington State University
... in Idaho between March 2020 and July 2022. While the parasitic roundworm E. schneideri was not detected in any of the animals found in north Idaho, it was present in 10 of the 20 adult moose studied in the southeastern portion of the state...
Why hunt moose to save them from winter ticks? Experts see few other ways to stem the grisly pests May 10, 2024 Vermont, WVNY on MSN
... for this year’s season, administered exclusively in Essex County. The allotment is expected to cull about 10% of the population there and bring density closer to one moose per square mile ... Experts have probed other ways of defeating the ticks ... but those solutions are still being studied ...
Wild deer return to historic site April 22, 2024 United Kingdom, Bristol24-78h
... was previously home to the wild animals until March 2021, when high levels of bovine tuberculosis proved difficult to contain. Having taken advice from experts, the decision was thus made to cull the herd...
New bovine TB case could expand testing April 16,2024 Michigan, Brownfield Ag News
... a wild deer was confirmed positive for the disease in February outside of the state’s current Modified Accredited Zone in Benzie County..,
This moose was seen walking in circles around a pole for 5 minutes February 16, 2024 New Brunswick, CBC.ca on MSN
... the moose in the video is likely experiencing "moose sickness," or neurological problems caused by a parasite that gets into the moose's spinal cord and brain... It happens when the moose is feeding on vegetation and consumes a snail carrying the eggs of the parasite...
DNR reports Benzie County's first TB-positive deer February 1, 2024 State of Michigan
... A 4-year-old doe harvested in Benzie County, Michigan, during the 2023 deer hunting season has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. This is the first bTB-positive wild deer from that county....
Deer tests positive for rabies in Hampshire November 8, 2023 West Virginia, Hampshire Review
... The WVDA has announced that a free-roaming white-tail deer tested positive for rabies in Hampshire County... all mammals, including white-tailed deer, are susceptible to rabies...
Rhode Island DEM confirms EEE-positive deer, warns hunters November 7, 2023 DEM News
... The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) are confirming this year’s first positive detection of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a white-tailed deer. DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement (DLE) responded to a report of a deer with neurological symptoms in Charlestown on Oct. 23. DLE humanely dispatched the animal and its tissues were subsequently tested for rabies; the test was negative. The RIDOH State Health Laboratories then tested the deer, confirming EEE. The transmission of the EEE virus to a deer reinforces that 2023 has been a higher-than-average risk year for mosquito-borne disease in southern New England....
Responsible management to reduce TB in deer, cattle November 3, 2023 Michigan Farm News
... Infected deer numbers are not high. Last year, 5,194 deer in NE Michigan were checked for bTB and only 28 deer were found positive ...cattle herds within a 10-mile radius need to be tested for bTB. The percentage of infected deer detected has decreased, but as long as the bacteria is alive in deer, there will be new infections in the deer herd, and potentially in cattle herds...
A mysterious Maine deer is turning purple but nobody knows why September 5, 2023 Bangor Daily News
... Most of the face and neck, the top of the head, the velvet on the antlers and the ears are either deep purple ... cases like this are rarely identical to others, and there are a lot of possibilities,” said Nathan Bieber, the deer biologist ...
How deadly brainworms jump from deer to moose August 10, 2023 Minnesota Reformer
... a parasite known as Parelaphostrongylus tenuis was responsible for anywhere from 25 to 30% of Minnesota moose deaths... A new camera trap study found that not only do deer, snails and moose frequent the same mineral licks, but they’re all often present at the same time. That establishes a clear chain of transmission that was missing before: the deer poop out the larvae, the larvae enter the snails, and the snails get ingested by the moose...
SARS-CoV-2 Serological Investigation of White-Tailed Deer in Northeastern Ohio PA Boley, PM Dennis, JN Faraone, J Xu, M Liu, X Niu… - Viruses, 2023
... We used the S antibody ELISA to test serum samples collected from 472 deer from ten sites in northeastern Ohio between November 2020 and March 2021, when the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was first peaking in humans in Ohio, USA. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were found in serum samples from every site, with an overall positivity rate of 17.2% ...
Rabid moose found 'stumbling, drooling profusely' is 1st case ever recorded in Alaska June 6, 2023 Live Science
... Scientists have confirmed the first ever case of rabies in an Alaska moose after a diseased animal stumbled into a small community and charged at residents while "drooling profusely." ...
Elk Hoof Disease Marching Through the Northwest January, 2023 WildlifeManagement.Institute
... What was once considered a sporadic malady affecting a few Roosevelt elk herds in the southwestern tip of Washington is now garnering the worried attention of wildlife biologists and veterinarians throughout the northwestern U.S. Associated with a polybacterial infection dominated by Treponeme bacteria, the syndrome has been labeled “Treponeme associated hoof disease” (TAHD) ...
Growths on deer spotted in North Huntingdon are likely papillomavirus, Game Commission says January 13, 2023 Pennsylvania, TribLIVE.com
... deer covered in fibromas... growths on the skin caused by viruses ... not contagious between deer or to humans. Fibromas can become dangerous if they grow too close to a deer’s eyes or mouth. If the animal can’t see and becomes too disoriented, it could unknowingly wander onto a road...
Research lab to study 'forever chemicals' to open at UMaine January 10, 2023, Maine, NewsCenterMaine.com
... David Trahan, executive director of Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, said he has pushed for an in-state PFAS lab since November 2021, when a "do not eat" advisory for deer harvested in Fairfield and surrounding communities was issued after several animals tested positive for elevated levels of PFAS...
'Everybody's contaminated:' Maine hunters worried about PFAS contamination in animals November 1, 2022 Maine, WGME
... "Everybody that's hunted, it's already in our systems,” Lefebvre said. “We've been eating bird, turkey, deer for years here. So everybody's contaminated. There's no question about it." He says his neighbors have high levels of PFAS in their bodies, and he's still waiting on his test results...
Pesticide exposure tied to deer die-off in Minnesota October 7, 2022 Lewiston Tribune
... State biologists found neonicotinoids in nearly all — 94% — of deer spleens collected from road kill and sent in by hunters last fall. Alarmingly, roughly two-thirds of those deer had higher concentrations of the chemicals than a threshold found to potentially lower fawn survival and cause bone and genital deformities in a captive deer study...
'Do not eat': High levels of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in deer and fish October 6, 2022 USA Today
... Wildlife agencies have found high levels of PFAS – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – that are often tabbed "forever chemicals" within deer in states including Michigan and Maine ...
Nearly all Minnesota deer exposed to pesticides linked to pollinator die-off September 10, 2022 StarTribune
... pesticides linked to bee, butterfly and pollinator deaths across the nation are being found in the organs of far more of Minnesota's wild deer, and in higher concentrations, than previously thought. State biologists found neonicotinoids in nearly all — 94% — of deer spleens collected from road kill ...
Trouble for Bambi: Neonic Levels in Wild Deer Spiking in Minnesota, Raising Concerns for Hunters and Conservationists September 7, 2022 Beyond Pesticides
... Neonicotinoid (neonic) insecticides are causing widespread contamination within deer populations in Minnesota, with recent data showing significant increases over sampling that took place just two years earlier...
Canadians Study Brain Worms in Deer in Bid to Save Moose Populations August 25, 2022,Field & Stream
... Brain worm infections in whitetail deer, while common, are typically benign. But for moose, who are infected indirectly by the deer, they are devastating. The worms burrow into a moose’s brain ... Once numbering in the thousands in Nova Scotia, the province’s mainland moose population has fallen precipitously over the past century, barely cracking into the hundreds in recent years ...
Data show increasing insecticide levels in Minnesota deer August 23, 2022 MPR News
... Researchers found the insecticide in 61 percent of 799 deer spleens tested in 2019. But the chemical was found in 94 percent of 496 samples collected in 2021..,
Deer antler based active ingredients have protective effects on LPS/d-GalN-induced acute liver injury in mice through MAPK and NF-κB signalling pathways 2022 Pharmaceutical Biology
... The separated and purified R1 protein component of deer antler base has a good protective effect on LPS/d-GalN-induced liver injury, and may become a potential material for protecting against liver injury...
MDARD establishes 'potential high-risk area' for bovine TB in 4 counties May 31, 2022 Michigan Farm News
... The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announcement Tuesday follows a confirmed bovine TB case of a free-range white-tailed deer in Cheboygan County...
TGen collaborates with wildlife officials to test for COVID-19 in both wild and zoo animals May 16, 2022 KNAU
... The Translational Genomics Research Institute, or TGen, has already begun testing ... Wild animals being tested include, elk, deer, mountain lions ...
Elk hunters submitted 815 brucellosis samples in 2021 April 18, 2022 Wyoming Game and Fish News
... Hunters submitted 815 usable blood samples from their elk harvested during the 2021 hunting season to aid the Wyoming Game and Fish Department with monitoring brucellosis. The samples from bulls, cows and calves help Game and Fish monitor the disease. Brucellosis is only found in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, but the department regularly monitors the entire state for the disease...
Fired forestry professor continues ringing alarm bells on glyphosate usage April 16, 2022 New Brunswick, The Western Standard
... Cumberland, who was formerly the chief deer biologist for New Brunswick, claims the heavy use of glyphosate in forestry has devastated the province’s white-tailed deer population, which has plummeted by over 70% since the mid-1980s... claims he was fired for expressing his views on the forest industry’s use of the herbicide glyphosate ...
'Unsightly,' Wart-Covered Deer In Colorado Is No Danger To Public April 14, 2022 Patch
... Photos posted on social media by the agency showed the animal with massive growths on its face, neck, ears and torso... are cutaneous fibromas caused by a virus... typically do not cause any problems for deer, though in rare cases they can interfere with sight, breathing, eating, and walking ...
COVID-19 confirmed in deer in New Brunswick; first case in an animal in Atlantic Canada April 7, 2022 CTV News
... The federal agency says the virus was detected in a free-ranging white-tailed deer in the Saint John region of New Brunswick. Environment Canada has reported 56 cases of COVID-19 involving animals, including 13 pets, 40 wild animals and three mink farms ...
Utah mule deer is 1st in U.S. to test positive for COVID-19 March 29, 2022 Salt Lake Tribune
... wildlife employees swabbed the noses of nearly 300 mule deer last year ... confirmed the country’s first case of COVID-19 ... Only one mule deer tested positive ...
Evidence of a rare tick-borne virus found in Maine deer March 20, 2022 Bangor Daily News
... According to the University of Maine 2021 Tick Surveillance Report, only 29 lone star ticks were reported in Maine in 2021. Of those, 17 were associated with people traveling to Maine from other states... “Heartland is an emerging infectious disease that is not well understood,” ...
COVID-19 found in 15% of Massachusetts deer tested March 17, 2022 WGBH
... Of the 558 Massachusetts deer tested so far, COVID-19 antibodies were discovered in 86 samples. While deer-to-human transmission has only happened in one documented case ... It's extremely unlikely that most people could be infected by a deer. Any deer-to-human transmission would likely happen through the air ...
Scientists test North Carolina deer for COVID-19 February 15, 2022 WFAE 90.7
... swabbed roughly 75 deer ... Six North Carolina deer had tested positive as of Monday, according to early results posted to the USDA. website, though Boggess emphasized the study samples are still being processed ...
Bovine TB found at two cervid farms for first time in 13 years February 4, 2022 Michigan, MLive
... bovine TB was found at regulated cervid facilities in Alcona and Sanilac counties. It’s the first time since 2009 the bacterial disease was found at such an agricultural facility...
Are Deer in COVID’s Crosshairs? January 31, 2022 Texas, Drovers Cattle Network
... There are more than 10,000 captive cervid facilities throughout the U.S. where deer are bred, according to The Wildlife Society, and more than 500 of these facilities are in Texas... “The level of infection we detected, which was more than 90% of the tested captive deer at one facility, cannot be explained by human contact alone,” ...
University of Minnesota study tests wildlife for SARS-CoV-2 virus January 26, 2022 University of Minnesota Twin Cities
... Nine of 142 (6.3%) wild deer tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Testing was performed at the University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the Genomics Center...
With COVID-19 now detected in Ontario deer, wildlife experts seek to fill research gap January 23, 2022 CBC News
... research is underway after the discovery of five white-tailed deer in southwestern Ontario that tested positive for COVID-19. The Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mine, Natural Resources and Forestry confirmed these are the first cases reported in free-ranging wildlife in Ontario...
COVID has been found in New Jersey deer January 21, 2022 NorthJersey.com
... The virus was recently found in two free-ranging deer ... The ability to become infected with COVID seems to rest only with mammals, early research shows. Chickens and ducks do not seem to become infected ...
Mass. is monitoring white-tailed deer for COVID. Here's why January 11, 2022 Massachusetts, WBUR
... Massachusetts is now one of 41 states participating in a national effort to study the prevalence of the virus in deer... "We do know that at this point, every place that [deer] have been tested, there have been antibodies found," ...
One-fifth of Deer in New York May Have COVID, First Case Found in Canada Lynx December 27, 2021 WIBX 950
... Nearly one-fifth of white-tailed deer samples collected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation were found to have antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 – i.e. the virus that causes COVID-19...
Researchers find evidence of COVID-19 in Texas deer December 24, 2021 Spectrum News
... Evidence of neutralizing antibodies was found in more than a third of the samples. COVID-19 additionally appears to be more common among male deer...
Active COVID-19 Infection – By at Least Three Virus Variants – Detected in Wild Deer in 6 Ohio Locations December 23, 2021 SciTechDaily
... Based on genomic sequencing of the samples collected between January and March 2021, researchers determined that variants infecting wild deer matched strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that had been prevalent in Ohio COVID-19 patients at the time...
White-tailed deer are efficient carriers of SARS-CoV-2 December 20, 2021 News Medical
... researchers demonstrate the susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ... the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD is likely to occur through respiratory or oral secretions...
Covid Detected In 3 White-Tailed Deer, Confirms Canada December 2, 2021 NDTV
... the samples were collected in early November from the free-ranging animals in the Estrie region of Quebec along the border with the United States...
Maine found 'forever chemicals' in deer, but has no idea how widespread the problem is November 24, 2021 Yahoo
... in the Fairfield area ...Five of the eight deer tested by the state were found to have high levels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), manufactured materials often referred to as "forever chemicals." They are used in numerous industrial and household products, and have been found to present health risks in humans...
USDA: 67% of tested Michigan deer have COVID-19 antibodies November 15, 2021 Michigan, WLNS 6 News
... 481 deer were tested from January 2020 through March 2021. The samples came from New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania. It was the Michigan sample of 113 deer that were found to have antibodies in two-thirds of the group...
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife: Some whitetail deer test positive for COVID-19 November 10, 2021 Oklahoma's News
... Every year, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife conducts a health study on a sample population of deer. Recently, some of those deer have come back as having COVID-19...
Illinois DNR To Test Up To 1,000 Deer For Coronavirus This Winter November 8, 2021 Patch
... Similar tests from last year in Iowa showed the virus spreading rapidly in local deer populations... Eric Schauber, a biologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told WCIS in August that 7 percent of deer tested in Illinois had antibodies for the virus...
Missouri Conservationists to Test Deer for COVID This Fall September 27, 2021 KBIA
... White-tailed deer in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania were tested in the federal study. Every sample showed at least 7% of the population having SARS-Cov-2 antibodies...
White-tailed deer tests positive for rabies as hunting season opens September 10, 2021 Delaware, The News Journal
... A white-tailed deer has tested positive for rabies in the area of Kings Creek Circle and Road 273 in Rehoboth Beach, according to the Delaware Division of Public Health....
Deer in 4 states have been exposed to the coronavirus, USDA study shows. What does that mean for humans? August 19, 2021 USA Today
... The study, not yet peer-reviewed, showed that 40% of deer tested across four states in 2021 were positive for antibodies ... we also have to think about socially distancing from some animals who could potentially be infected ...
Study showing coronavirus present in deer no cause for alarm August 9, 2021 Ohio, YAHOO!News
... "The study that we did really just looked at whether deer had antibodies to SARS-COVID-2, and we were not looking at whether they currently have the virus or the prevalence of the virus," ... not intended to determine whether the deer were replicating and shedding the virus...
Surveillance Data Shows White-Tailed Deer Exposed to SARS-CoV-2 July 28, 2021 USDA
... The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently completed a study that analyzed serum samples from free-ranging white-tailed deer for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Results of the study indicate that certain white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2... Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 33% of the 481 samples collected from January 2020 through 2021. None of the deer populations surveyed showed signs of clinical illness associated with SARS-CoV-2....
Lax Pesticide Policies Are Putting Wildlife Health at Risk, Experts Warn July 14, 2021, Minnesota, National Audubon Society
... Among nearly 800 white-tailed deer spleens mailed to a Minnesota state lab in 2019 ... 61 percent ... were found to contain pesticides called neonicotinoids ... captive deer exposed to neonics—at far lower levels than found in the Minnesota wild deer spleens—suffered reduced fawn survival, altered organ weights, and developmental and behavioral abnormalities....
Maine Bans Consumer Use of Neonicotinoid Insecticides, with Some Exceptions June 18, 2021 Beyond Pesticides
... Maine legislature passed, and Governor Janet Mills has now signed, a new law that will prohibit use of neonicotinoid pesticides with the “active ingredient[s] dinotefuran, clothianidin, imidacloprid or thiamethoxam used for application in outdoor residential landscapes ... Back in March, Beyond Pesticides reported on endemic levels of neonic contamination in the state’s deer population...
More bad news for bees and deer May 29, 2021 Minnesota, The Courier
... the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has found evidence of neonicotinoids inside deer in the state’s deepest and most remote forests... Neonicotinoids are a type of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine ...
Zoos, scientists push for COVID vaccines for animals after zookeepers transmitted virus March 19, 2021 NOLA.co
... ferrets, racoon dogs and white-tailed deer are susceptible, although pigs and cattle are not. “This could be a conservation concern, especially if the virus began to spread in a wild species ...
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