A bizarre disease is spreading across the United States. Deer sometimes act like “zombies”. The disease is triggered by mosquitoes, which are also indigenous here.
Ohio – Blood comes out of the eyes, tumors form in the body and the animal looks disoriented and drooling: reports of so-called “zombie deer” are accumulating in the state of Ohio. Behind the creepy-looking animals is a serious disease that can end fatally like this New York post writes.
The disease that deer suffer from in the United States is called Deer Epizootic Hemorrhage – EHD for short. In America, the disease is currently spreading from the southeastern United States to Ohio and the Midwest, such as the New York post reported.
Possible infection in Germany too? The video shows one of the infected “Zombie” deer
An online video recently surfaced showing Officer James Love of the Colerain Township Police Department in Ohio finding an infected deer. The deer stood motionless near a road and showed no reaction to the officers.
It was a total surprise for all of us, we’ve never seen anything like it.
EHD infection occurs in animals via mosquito bites. Due to current weather conditions, mosquitoes in the United States have more habitat at this time of year. “So more habitat, more mosquitoes, more viruses, more dead deer,” said Michael Tonkovich, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Deer Program Administrator. New York post.
If an animal is infected, the first symptoms appear in the first five to seven days, and death can occur between eight and thirty-six hours after infection. Mortality, i.e. the death rate, is quite low when infected with EHD, like this one Friedrich Loeffler Institute writes.
Disease in deer and companions: In Germany, EHD is one of the notifiable animal diseases
In Germany, the disease is one of the notifiable animal diseases, like that Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) writes. According to the institute, free-living ungulates are mainly affected by the disease. The frequency, that is the morbidity, is given here with a value between one and eighteen percent.
- Symptoms of epizootic hemorrhage
- Uncontrolled drooling
- swelling of the body
- Fever
- ulcers throughout the body
- Internal bleeding
- Moving on your knees (due to pain)
- Behavior changes, such as depression or confusion
- Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources v New York Post
The animal epidemic report for 2011 shows that there have been no cases of EHD in Germany to date. A corresponding survey on the current situation a Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture still waiting for an answer. The so-called bearded mosquitoes, which transmit the disease, are certainly also found in Germany. (Luca Maier)
It has recently become known that the avian influenza virus can also be transmitted to mammals.
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