Oh deer. -- Deer with skin condition concerns Colorado residents; this is what’s going on - KPRC2
, “Deer fibromas are caused by the deer papillomavirus. Like many other papillomaviruses, this virus causes wart-like growths on the skin. Deer fibromas can last for weeks to months and can get quite large, but most will eventually regress and heal completely without treatment. Once the growths are healed, the deer has lifelong resistant to future infections by this virus. Young deer are more commonly affected than older deer.
The virus may be transmitted by many ways including direct skin-to-skin contact, scratching against the same scratching posts, or possibly even biting insects. In most cases, the growths do not interfere with normal deer behavior, although very large growths can interfere with limb movement and growths around the eyes can obstruct vision.”stressed that “deer fibromas are not a concern for public health. The deer papillomavirus is only known to affect deer and closely-related species.