Beef Magazine's headline "EHD on the rise" landed this month, putting epizootic hemorrhagic disease back on the radar of cattle practitioners across the regions where midge-borne disease circulates annually. The publication's flag — with no published details beyond the headline itself — coincides with the late-summer window when Culicoides biting midge populations peak across much of the United States.

For mixed-animal and bovine-exclusive practices, the signal is actionable. Producers and veterinarians need to refresh vector-control plans, confirm diagnostic-submission pathways with their state laboratory, and walk clients through the differential between EHD virus (EHDV) and bluetongue virus (BTV) before clinical calls spike.

What clinicians see in the field

EHDV is an orbivirus in the Reoviridae family. The historic reservoir is the white-tailed deer; cattle serve primarily as a spillover host. Once a midge bites an infected cow or calf, incubation runs roughly five to 10 days before clinical signs appear. Affected cattle show:

• Pyrexia, often in the 104–107°F range
• Oral mucosal erosions, sometimes with tongue swelling
• Hypersalivation
• Coronet-band inflammation causing lameness and stiff gait
• Recumbency in severe cases
• Drop in milk production in lactating dairy cows

Morbidity commonly runs from single digits to 30% or more in naive herds; mortality is generally lower but can spike in calves and heavily lactating cows. Recovered animals typically clear the virus without becoming carriers.

Who is most at risk

Outbreaks cluster geographically — the Lower Midwest, Ohio River Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast see them most often. Late-summer and early-fall seasonality tracks midge populations that explode in warm, humid weather and standing water. Within an operation, mid- to late-gestation cows and calves in their first summer carry the highest clinical risk.

Ruling out BTV

EHDV and BTV are clinically indistinguishable on physical examination. Both produce fever, oral lesions and lameness carried by the same Culicoides vector complex. Definitive diagnosis requires real-time PCR, virus isolation or serology, run at the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, or at state-run diagnostic laboratories authorized to forward samples upstream.

Practitioners should contact their state veterinarian before sample submission; most states subsidize or waive fees for testing of commercial herd cases to support surveillance. Whole blood in EDTA and spleen from clinically affected or recently deceased animals are the preferred specimens.

What control looks like

The USDA Center for Veterinary Biologics has not licensed any EHDV vaccine product for use in U.S. cattle, and no EHD-specific antiviral exists under FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine approval. Management rests on vector suppression and supportive care:

• Insecticidal ear tags, pour-ons and back-rubbers on a midge-season schedule
• Move cattle away from low-lying pastures, wetlands and tree-line loafing areas where Culicoides concentrate
• House cattle during dawn and dusk when midge feeding peaks
• Isolate clinically affected animals and monitor herdmates for two to three weeks
• Provide water, shelter and NSAIDs for cattle reluctant to walk

Autogenous vaccine candidates surface in heavily affected regions, but no commercial autogenous EHD product is in widespread use.

Practice- and market-level implications

Mixed-animal practitioners should expect a higher call volume for "cows with mouth sores" and "cows with lameness" as the vector window opens. EHD-positive cattle do not face the same federal interstate movement restrictions that BTV-positive animals carry, but state-level import rules vary — checking the destination state's regulations before signing a certificate of veterinary inspection keeps shipments on schedule.

For cow-calf operations, mortality risk drives most of the financial harm; for dairies, milk-production losses paired with treatment labor typically outweigh mortality expenses.

Public-health and companion-animal status: EHDV does not transmit to humans and does not produce clinically significant disease in companion animals; surveillance and clinical focus remain on livestock and wildlife.

Looking ahead

Beef Magazine's headline is a useful prompt for practitioners: refresh midge-control recommendations with clients now, lock in the state-laboratory submission process, and brief reception staff on the EHD-versus-BTV differential before phone volume rises.