Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease is going around the deer herds this year in my area. It's spread by midges, which will reportedly die at the first frost. Should I be concerned about my goats? My quick google search did not give me much useful information about how this disease might affect goat herds. My goats do not interact with deer, nor do they roam the same pastures that deer do, so I'm not overly concerned but I am curious.
Here's something to look at: http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/epizootic_hemorrhagic_disease.pdf It's a good reason to reduce the costs of deer tags as some (captive) populations show a 90% mortality rate with the average being about 10%.
Thanks! Their study mentions that antibodies for the disease have been found in goats, but they were unable to infect goats experimentally with the disease. Yeah, the disease hasn't been good for the deer. Nature will find a way to deal with overpopulation if we don't.
