‘Blue tongue’ disease suspected in Montana deer deaths

Wildlife managers are reducing the number of white-tailed deer that hunters can kill in north-central Montana in response to recent reports of significant numbers of dead deer concentrated near water .

Within the past month, an unknown number of deer, mostly white-tailed deer, have succumbed to blue tongue virus or epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), viral diseases that are most prevalent along waterways. Although the distribution of these viruses is “spotty,” it can be locally significant to ungulate populations in some regions, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Here is what we know about these diseases, how they affect wildlife and what game managers are doing to ward off population declines.

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