Research shows many Illinois deer are exposed to EHD, but not all die

It was the height of summer 2022 when the calls started coming in. Scores of dead deer suddenly littered rural properties and park preserves in Illinois, alarming the public and inconveniencing landowners. According to officials at the Urbana Park District, it was Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), a midge-borne viral illness that pops up in deer populations around the state every few years. But now University of Illinois scientists have found gene variants in deer associated with the animals’ susceptibility to EHD.