Blue Tongue Disease

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Blue Tongue Disease
Blue Tongue is a disease that affects several different types of animals, but here in the Ozarks it mainly affects deer. This disease is fatal to deer and other mammals, like livestock, causing their population during an outbreak to shrink. This is an issue to the environment because when this outbreak occurs, the deer population dwindles causing areas to become under populated. In some places, Blue Tongue Disease can be so fatal that departments are forced to regulate how many hunting permits are allowed a season.
Most hunters care about Blue Tongue disease, especially in the affected areas, because they help manage the deer population. When Blue Tongue is affecting deer in their area, it lowers how many deer are available
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To put it into perspective locally, it would be like a summer in the Ozarks that is extremely hot with little to no rain. Therefore, the trees and other organisms in the forest would have trouble thriving with little rain. Animals like squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks could have a limited food supply, just like the deer’s. When the deer’s food and water supply is compromised, Blue Tongue disease would be more likely. With very hot conditions, the soil would be very dry leaving the ground at the same high temperature leaving the animals and other organisms with possible shortage of …show more content…
According to the article, Bluetongue and EHD Disease in White-Tail Deer, this disease is mostly occurred in southern latitudes during the summer, but then dies off during the winter. Weather also has a huge impact on this disease such as high temperatures and little rain. Some symptoms of Bluetongue Disease are high fever, excessive salivation, and swelling of the facial area and tongue (Deer Management). Blue Tongue Disease and Hemorrhagic Disease can be suspected when a hunter-harvested deer had growths in their hooves or lesions on their mouth. The cause of this disease is from tiny biting flies known as Culicoides. These flies are known as biting midges, but are also called sand gnats, sand flies, and punkies (EFSA Journal). Even though the virus will kill the animal that is affected pretty fast, the virus can still be carried for several weeks before it dies off completely. White-tail deer normally die from this disease after a short period of time and will be found in the shade or near water sources such as rivers or