Disease affects the outdoors also. Should we react to COVID-19 with humans the way we do with diseases for animals?

I got home around 3 a.m. The day was long. I sat patiently for 12 hours making sure to capture the images I needed and properly catalog them with captions and keywords. I was told at 9:30 a.m. I would get further directives on this mission of importance.

After 6 hours of sleep I woke to the tone from my phone indicating I had a message received. I took a peek, and my task was clear. I showered, hustled to the truck and drove the two hours back to my base of operations. With 30 minutes to spare, I arrived and prepped my gear.

Then the unthinkable happened. With just 15 minutes until the moment of importance, it was announced it all had been canceled.

No, this wasn’t a top-secret operative in which I was running reconnaissance for some clandestine organization. Nor was this a seek and find mission of some rare species that only appears during a specific time.

No, this was the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament and I was credentialed photographer/media.

The 2020 ACC Men's Basketball was cancelled prior to the third round of play.

COVID-19, aka the Wuhan flu, aka the coronavirus, had reared its ugliness and may have done something much worse than getting someone sick. It caused fear.

Now, fear is warranted in some situations. This is likely one of them. It spreads quickly, it mutates, and it is deadly to the elderly and infirmed. Have we gone too far in our reactions? That can be debated. And that debate is where I am headed with this column.

As hunters and anglers, this type of thing is one of the many things that makes us valuable as stewards to this planet. We are often the equivalent of both first reporters and first responders in the outdoors.

Fish kill? We often are the ones that notice first and report to the wildlife agencies.

Diseased wildlife? Yes, that would be us as the first on the scene as well, in most cases.

Now, what are the responses to such things? Well, pretty much what we are doing with this coronavirus outbreak.

We have to limit the spread while also determining the cause. Doesn’t matter whether it is dead fish or dead mammals. The way to do those things is slightly different though.

When something such as blue tongue disease or chronic wasting disease (CWD) is detected, in order to limit the spread, animals can be quarantined to a certain area and then killed. Of course, we don’t do that to humans. However, Italy has limited to offering care to those that they deem may survive and not administering care to the elderly. But again, this is regarding the outdoors and not as much the current human situation.

The areas may be targeted by use of hunters, or wildlife agents and paid crews to eradicate any animals that may have a risk of spreading disease. For something like CWD, an equivalent of travel bans exists in order to prevent spread. There are laws set up to prohibit the transfer of body parts across state lines from states or regions that have known cases of CWD, as well as the prohibition of transporting live animals.

The main key here is what we are doing for coronavirus is what we do in nature to protect the greater numbers. And as frustrating as it may be for us to lose revenue, entertainment and experience other inconveniences, it is vitally important in controlling what could be without those measures.

Coast2Coast Outdoors 11/14/2011

Here is the Coast2Coast Outdoors rebroadcast of this week's show with information and commentary on blue tongue and EHD disease in whitetail deer.  RB Wright and Kerry Mackey hosts the weekly show as well as their own blog sites (just click on the names for the links).

This particular show features some information from last week's Bill Howard's Outdoors column on diseased deer seen here.

Watch live streaming video from coast2coastoutdoors at livestream.com

Be sure to catch Coast2Coast Outdoors each Monday at 9pm Eastern time.

Diseased Deer in North Carolina - No Threat to Humans

Perfect conditions can mean vastly different things.  Perfect conditions for deer hunting would include several days of rain followed by the first really cold spell.  However, this summer provided perfect conditions for something else.  Across North Carolina, the hot dry summer followed by the onslaught of rain from storms such as Irene provided perfect conditions for flies and gnats.  These insects are the carrier for the virus that inflicts hemorrhagic disease in deer, cattle, and sheep amongst other animals.

Hemorrhagic disease encompasses two sub-infections, known as epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and blue tongue disease, is well known in hunting circles and has been spotted throughout North Carolina this season.  An infected deer may lose its fear of humans, as it becomes obsessed with finding water and shade in order to combat one of its top symptoms of high fever.  Symptoms such as cracked hooves, bloated, thin, weak, or severely underweight deer, especially if it has suffered for an extended period of time are common.  Swollen lips and tongues with a blue color, hence the name blue tongue disease, may be seen but are not necessarily present.  Often dead deer will be found near rivers and bodies of water.

The last major outbreak was in 2007, with five notable outbreaks since the 1980’s.

Deer presumed to be infected and harvested by hunters should not worry, as the meat and hide are still safe to eat and use.  The disease cannot be transferred to humans.  The only passage of the disease is through midges (flies and gnats).  The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is requesting any deer displaying such symptoms, or found dead or dying, be reported to the Division of Wildlife Management at (919)707-0050 or wrccomments@ncwildlife.org.

As mentioned in many arguments as a reason to hunt, diseases that can damage herds such as hemorrhagic disease are primarily found by hunters and outdoorsmen.  In 2007 for instance, an outbreak of blue tongue disease was initially spotted by hunters scouting land near the Asheville area.  Hemorrhagic disease has been known to strike deer populations with as much as a 30% mortality rate in the herd in local areas.  You can see why it is important to be reported.  If a deer survives through the disease, it develops immunity to future outbreaks.

Counties affected by hemorrhagic disease this season include western counties such as Yancey and Cherokee, and northeastern counties such as Halifax, Edgecombe, Northampton, Bertie and Gates counties.

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.