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viding supportive care to the affected animals along with fly control, seems to be prudent.

Q. Why is this showing up this year?
A. The area of the state in which the most cases are identified is also the area of the state experiencing very dry conditions. The insect vector likes to breed in moist dirt, such as that found in drying creek beds, or along the shores of receded rivers and creeks. Some scientists have speculated that the level of immunity in the cattle population may currently be on a down cycle, allowing more animals to show clinical signs, although this has not been definitively proven.

Q. What is going to happen next year? Will we see more, or less of this syndrome? Will we see effects next calving season in the affected cows?
A. It is unclear at this point, and much depends on conditions for the vector next year. One could suppose that a high percentage of cattle will have been exposed to EHD this year whether they have shown signs of illness or not. Whether this results in an increased resistance to signs of EHD in future years remains to be seen. In a 2007 Ohio outbreak, there were no instances in which EHD was confirmed to have contributed to reproductive losses in the following calving season.

Q. Does EHD affect people or meat or milk from the affected animals?
A. No. EHD does not affect people. Meat and milk from animals that are recovering or have recovered is safe to consume.