Incidence of Hemorrhagic Disease in White-Tailed Deer Is Associated with Winter and Summer Climatic Conditions

Abstract

Hemorrhagic disease (HD) is an important vector-borne disease of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The objective of this study was to determine whether temperature and precipitation were associated with a measure of annual incidence of HD in white-tailed deer from Virginia. The annual percentages of deer with hoof wall growth interruptions (a clinical sign of HD) from four climate divisions in the HD endemic area of Virginia recorded during 1993-2006 were used as indicators of annual HD incidence. Pearson's correlation coefficients between these indicators of incidence and average temperature (degrees F) or total precipitation (in.) for each month, as well as for winter (January-February), early summer (June-July), and late summer/fall (August-September-October) seasons were calculated. Strong direct correlations between the measure of annual HD incidence and average temperature for winter (r = 0.39, P = 0.003, n = 57), early summer (r = 0.51, P < 0.0001, n = 57), and late summer/fall (r = 0.42, P = 0.001, n = 57) were evident. There also was a strong inverse correlation between the measured annual HD incidence and June precipitation (r = -0.44, P = 0.0006, n = 57). Poisson regression models of seasonal temperatures and June precipitation to annual percentage of deer with hoof wall growth interruptions were developed. Based on Akaike's Information Criterion with small sample size correction (AICc), the global model was selected as the top model. Higher winter and summer temperatures may increase vector capacity and competence, and lower precipitation in June may create favorable breeding sites for midges.

Bluetongue in Europe and the role of wildlife in the epidemiology of disease

“…BTV prevalence and outbreaks follow a seasonal pattern in Europe, infection generally occurring in late summer and early fall. This seasonal variation is related to vector abundance, which depends on climate factors, such as humidity and temperature (Sleeman et al 2009). Apart from the annual seasonality, there are inter-annual cycles in the occurrence of BTV.…”

SEVERE HOOF DISEASE IN FREE-RANGING ROOSEVELT ELK (CERVUS ELAPHUS ROOSEVELTI) IN SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON, USA

“…Hoof disease in wild and captive cervids has been described worldwide, and etiologies include infectious diseases such as epizootic hemorrhagic disease and infectious pododermatitis (Sleeman et al 2009;Handeland et al 2010), noninfectious diseases such as mineral deficiencies and endophyte toxicity (Flynn et al 1977;Handeland and Vikren 2005), and chronic laminitis (Gray et al 2001;Clauss et al 2009), which is generally related to nutritional imbalance. In many cases, hoof disease in wild cervids may be multifactorial and influenced by diet, behavior, habitat use, range quality, and population genetics (Lavin et al 2004).…”

A Mathematical Model to Analyze Spread of Hemorrhagic Disease in White-Tailed Deer Population

“…With the species richness of the Culicoides genus, we may reasonably expect more and different interaction rates and different levels of control efficacy [27]. We also note that weather has an effect on both the midge population and the life cycle of the HD virus [2] [29]. Midge populations thrive in damper areas, and in 2012, there was an above average amount of rain in the late winter/early spring, filling ponds and other water bodies in Missouri [28].…”

“…The linear system in (18) Remark 1 The inequalities (2) and (4) and Lemma 1 imply that the conditions of Proposition 1 are always satisfied. Hence, the DFE always exists and it is given by ( ) By linearizing model (1) about the DFE, we get the characteristic equation…”