SAGINAW, Mich. — A fast-moving virus that kills white-tailed deer is turning up from the Saginaw Bay area south through most of the southern Lower Peninsula, and state wildlife officials are asking hunters to keep reporting dead deer as the fall seasons continue.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has laboratory-confirmed epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, in deer from 15 counties this year. In the southwest they are Allegan, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Branch and Oceana; in the south, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee and Washtenaw; in mid-Michigan, Ingham, Clinton, Montcalm and Saginaw; and in the southeast, Oakland and Lapeer. That is about the same spread seen in 2025, when 16 counties had confirmed cases, and in 2024, with 15.
In mid-Michigan the heaviest activity has been in Saginaw County around the Shiawassee River State Game Area, where people using the river for paddling and fishing have come across dead deer. Clusters have also turned up in the southwest corner of Genesee County and the southeast part of Shiawassee County, where wetlands give the midges that carry the virus plenty of breeding ground.
To help hunters see what is happening near them, the DNR built an online map that shows suspect reports by 36-square-mile township block, along with counties where lab tests confirmed the disease. The agency plans to update it in the coming weeks. Reports are voluntary, so the map shows where activity has been reported rather than a full count.
Confirmation is not always possible. A carcass must reach biologists within 16 hours of death for lab testing, so the department expects the virus is present in more places than the confirmed list shows.
Biting midges spread the disease in late summer and early fall. Infected deer either recover or die within days, which is why several carcasses often turn up close together. Outbreaks usually fade within about two weeks after the first hard frost kills the insects.
The DNR says EHD poses no risk to people, and venison from a deer that looked healthy is safe to eat. Hunters should still skip any animal that appears sick and report it. Local herds hit hard can take around five years to rebound, though recovery after the major 2012 outbreak varied widely from place to place.
Filed under: Lansing MI Hunting News
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