By Illinois Radio Network/Benjamin Yount

SPRINGFIELD – The troubling deer disease outbreak in Illinois has already claimed more than 400 deer.

EHD, or epizootic hemorrhagic disease, has been a problem in Illinois for years.

The state’s Department of Natural Resources says it’s a growing problem this year as well.

DNR Wildlife Disease Program Manager Doug Dufford says so far this year, more than 400 deer have fallen to the disease. Most of them in central Illinois.

“The worst of the outbreak is actually along the Illinois River,” Dufford said. “Extending from about Schuyler County upstream to Marshal, Putnam and Bureau counties.”

While 432 cases of EHD is more than the past two years, it’s nowhere near Illinois’ worst outbreak.

In 2012, almost 3,000 cases of EHD were reported in Illinois.

Dufford said the state is asking landowners and hunters to report sick or dead deer so they can be tested.

“With hunters in the woods, it’s a good opportunity for them to see carcasses that look like they may have been a result of EHD,” Dufford said. “We’d like to document those so we can compare the distribution of the disease, and the intensity of the disease, so we can compare that to other years.”