A deer grazes near a retention pond in Carpentersville in 2021. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is keeping track of the rising number of viral disease cases transmitted to deer by midges, with two confirmed cases so far in East Dundee. | Mike Danahey/The Courier-News
By Mike Danahey | For the Elgin Courier-News
Forty deer deaths in Illinois this year — including two confirmed cases in East Dundee — are being attributed to a virus transmitted by a tiny insect, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The two infected deer were found in the area of the Lakewood subdivisions, north of Barrington Avenue, according to a post on the village’s website this week.
Both died from Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, known as EHD, the result of midges biting white tail deer and other hooved animals, according to government resource websites. Such cases tend to occur in late summer or early autumn and during drought conditions, officials said.
Public Works Director Phil Cotter said this was the first time the disease has been detected in East Dundee in the more than nine years he has worked for the village.
“Village officials are in direct communication with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources regarding this issue,” the village website post said. “EHD cannot infect humans. It poses no public health risk. Dogs and cats cannot contract the virus.”
According to the IDNR website, “drought conditions tend to exaggerate the impacts of EHD as deer tend to congregate around the limited water sources. Receding water levels around ponds, lakes, streams and rivers result in exposed muddy areas from which the midges hatch.”
Report continues here.