Disease Hitting Deer in South Dakota Hard

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota wildlife officials are considering reducing the number of deer hunting licenses this fall because of an outbreak of disease.

Game, Fish and Parks regional wildlife manager John Kanta tells KEVN-TV in Rapid City that hunters, farmers and game wardens in the state have reported more than 1,100 cases of the disease commonly known as EHD.

It stands for epizootic hemorrhagic disease, and it almost always is fatal for white-tailed deer. It's not known to affect people. The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan newspaper reports that the heaviest deer losses have come in southeastern South Dakota.

Kanta says wildlife officials are talking about taking away some leftover licenses, or even granting refunds to hunters who already have deer tags. That happened in North Dakota last year.

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