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By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune September 30. 2014 8:16PM Deer-killing disease won't taint meat for hunters Southern Oregon hunters heading into the woods this weekend during a fatal disease outbreak among black-tailed deer should not worry about the meat being unsafe to eat, biologists say. The diseases that have killed hundreds of deer in Jackson, Josephine and Douglas counties attack the digestive systems of deer but it won't make the meat of hunter-killed deer inedible, officials say. "We've had a lot of hunters asking if it's safe to eat (deer meat), and we've been telling them to cook your meat and everything's fine — as fine as wild game can be," says Mark Vargas, the Rogue District wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in White City. "These are wild animals. There should be no concern. "But I wouldn't recommend eating deer tartare," he says, referring to a dish made from raw meat. While the diseases are fatal to deer, they pose no health threat to humans, Vargas says. The two diseases in question are adenovirus hemorrhagic disease, or AHD, and epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD. AHD, which also is known simply as adenovirus, has been found regularly in deer living in the urban-interface areas of Jackson and Josephine counties for years, but this year the disease has moved into the region's migratory herds as well. Adenovirus is spread from nose-to-nose contact and is associated with unnaturally high concentrations of deer around artificial food and water sources in urban areas or around natural food and water sources in the wild during droughts, when resources are scarce. But new to the region is the gnat-borne EHD, which has killed hundreds of deer in Douglas County, primarily within an isolated pocket of Columbian whitetails. It is spread by small gnats that bite the deer, has no known cure and cannot be curbed until frost kills off the gnats, according to ODFW. Unlike adenovirus, EHD can be spread to cattle, which rarely show clinical signs of the illness, according to ODFW. Neither disease can be spread from animals to humans, the agency states. Wildlife biologists are hopeful the virus won't jump from the Umpqua River Basin to the Rogue River Basin, and so far there has been no sign of it, Vargas says. Seven local dead deer tested for EHD came back negative, and results of two more specimens have yet to be completed at an Oregon State University lab, Vargas says. EHD and AHD both cause weakness, excessive salivation and bloody diarrhea. Deer with EHD also develop a rapid pulse and respiration rate and fevers. Victims are frequently found lying in bodies of water, where the deer were apparently attempting to cool off. Deer finally become unconscious and die. ODFW biologists do not collect dead deer, but they suggest either burying them or taking them to a landfill. Vargas says biologists in his office want to hear about dead deer when people find them, particularly among rifle hunters who will be plying the backwoods when the general rifle season opens Saturday. To report possible deer-disease cases in Jackson or Josephine counties, call ODFW at 541-826-8774. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140930/NEWS/140939969 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->