This deer kept circling my house, walking in circles, wandering onto the highway, walking into things and almost falling down, at times. He showed no fear of getting within a few feet of me. At first, I thought he was somebody's pet. I have known people who have made pets out of wild deer. It just becomes a problem as they go into their first rut. I turned the camera off when I figured I better call the game warden. He said the deer probably had blue tongue virus and the virus is as bad this year as he has ever seen. However, it could be chronic wasting disease. (Greg Foster called it a brain worm.) This deer had to be put down because he kept wandering out onto the road, Ky. Route 8, which tends to be quite busy at times. The local deer population won't suffer, tho. We already have too many! In some local areas they are considered nuisance animals and are even hunted in some local city limits by bow hunters with special permits.
From Wikipedia:
Bluetongue disease is a non-contagious, insect-borne, viral disease of ruminants, mainly sheep and less frequently cattle, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries, and antelope. It is caused by the Bluetongue virus (BTV). The virus is transmitted by the midge Culicoides imicola, Culicoides variipennis, and other culicoids.
In sheep, BTV causes an acute disease with high morbidity and mortality. BTV also infects goats, cattle and other domestic animals as well as wild ruminants (for example, blesbuck, white-tailed deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope).
Major signs are high fever, excessive salivation, swelling of the face and tongue and cyanosis of the tongue. Swelling of the lips and tongue gives the tongue its typical blue appearance, though this sign is confined to a minority of the animals. Nasal signs may be prominent, with nasal discharge and stertorous respiration.
Some animals also develop foot lesions, beginning with coronitis, with consequent lameness. In sheep, this can lead to knee-walking. In cattle, constant changing of position of the feet gives bluetongue the nickname The Dancing Disease. Torsion of the neck (opisthotonos or torticollis) is observed in severely affected animals.
Not all animals develop signs, but all those that do lose condition rapidly, and the sickest die within a week. For affected animals which do not die, recovery is very slow, lasting several months.
The incubation period is 5-20 days, and all signs usually develop within a month. The mortality rate is normally low, but it is high in susceptible breeds of sheep. In Africa, local breeds of sheep may have no mortality, but in imported breeds it may be up to 90 percent.
In cattle, goats and wild ruminants infection is usually asymptomatic despite high virus levels in blood. Red deer are an exception, and in them the disease may be as acute as in sheep.
Негізгі бет Sick Deer - Listeriosis? CWD? Brain Worm? BTV?
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