Wildlife Fawn Rescue, located in Sonoma County, is the only wildlife center in California that specializes in the rehabilitation of deer specifically. We receive over 100 fawns each season, a much larger number of fawns than any other facility in the state. Therefore, we often deal with diseases that other facilities never see.

I first became aware of this unusual disease in August 1991. Responding to a call, I found a three-month-old fawn lying under a deck. As it dashed past me towards the woods, I could plainly see the livid red, raw area covering the entire neck, from behind the ears to the shoulder. I saw no infection, only clean raw flesh. The fawn was too alert and mobile to capture. Finding no reference, I called it "Raw Neck Disease".

In 1993, a three-month-old fawn (#19), raised in captivity since birth, developed symptoms of this disease. After being treated with antibiotics the fawn recovered. Again, in 1995, a dying fawn, clearly showing the raw, red neck, died after arriving at the vet too late for treatment.

During the summer of 1997 a wild fawn that traveled through our property daily with a doe, showed signs of this same neck condition. Her condition worsened over the weeks, then healed without any interference from humans.

In August, 1999, Fawn #45, was found near death, lying against a fence. This fawn was one of a set of triplets being raised in the wild by the doe. This is the worst case I have seen. I rushed it directly to my vet who took blood samples before euthanizing it. I delivered the body to a wildlife lab for a necropsy. This fawn was never taken into our fawn facility. Strangely, a few days later, a fawn in our center developed neck lesions. We treated it with Tribrissen (480gr) antibiotic and all symptoms soon cleared.

Although parasitic infestation does cause inflammation around the eyes and ears, this disease is totally confined to one region of the body and is quite different from any parasitic infections we have seen.

Symptoms occur in varying degrees, but generally begin with a deep, raw lesion on the back of the neck. In the beginning stages, the skin may still be moist, necrotic and easily peeled off. The alert and mobile fawn continues to eat well. Once the neck has become clean and raw, the fawn is in pain and has trouble turning its head. It carries the head in a stiff, erect manner. The case of Fawn #45 was unusually severe. The entire neck was covered with deep circular lesions like a series of collars in a row. The skin appeared to be dry and split completely around the neck. This raw flesh was covered over with thick, slimy infection, which gave off an extremely strong, unpleasant odor. But rarely does this white, slimy infection occur on a stricken fawn. At this extreme stage the fawn is near death, unable to stand, and all vital signs are shutting down. In other cases, the hair and dry skin raise free of the neck, and can be lifted off in one large parchment-like piece. The neck underneath is like a livid raw, flaming red wound.

List of observations noted over the years:

*This disease has only been seen once in an adult deer. Fawns are beyond the newborn stage. I would suspect a depressed immune system at this vulnerable age, between the time that the neonate immunities from the doe are gone and the fawns own immunities have not become competent;

*With fawns, the disease may strike from June through early fall, but most often during August and September. However, the adult was observed during a cold, wet February. It is not hemorrhagic, as is Blue Tongue and Adenovirus;

*We now recognize and treat this disease in its beginning stages. Fawns no longer need to die. We have successfully treated them in the wild;

*We know the proper antibiotic and dosage to cure these fawns. Tribrissen and Trimetheprim, both sulfa derivatives, can be used successfully;

*By late summer, when this disease strikes, our pens are devoid of foliage, clean, and the fawns are in a protected environment. It does not appear likely that this is a food or plant allergy;

*We know that this disease is not usually fatal even when left untreated;

*These symptoms have been observed and identified only in No. CA: in Sonoma County, Marin County, San Luis Obispo County, Amador County and Santa Clara County;

*We have found no concrete evidence, no pattern to help determine how this disease is transmitted or what the underlying cause may be. However, several interested pathologists, who have examined tissue samples and cultures from our stricken fawns, have suggested that this is an inside-out problem rather than a skin-surface problem. The vascular supply is compromised and the skin subsequently sloughs. There are a multitude of causes for this vascular thrombosis: the difficulty is finding one that would target the neck. More specific testings are needed.

We have had only two fawns accepted by a wildlife lab for necropsies. Reports from the DFG Wildlife Investigations Lab, and from the CA Animal Health and Food Safety Lab System at UC Davis, both proved inconclusive. They suggest a possible tick bite infection, although there are no positive results to back this presumption.

Both labs reported similar characteristics in both fawns. The following is a brief summary of these findings:

Fawn #45 – Picked up from a wild habitat and delivered to a vet for euthanasia. The fresh carcass and a fresh blood sample were delivered to the lab.

- This fawn had a full thickness necrosis of the epidermis and necrotic tracts in the deep dermis and subcutaneous tissue. There were dense bacterial colonies in the necrotic tissues;

- In addition, there was a large focus of necrosis and fibrin vascular thrombi in the kidney indicating a systemic spread of the skin lesion;

- Their dermatologist could not determine the cause, or even if the lesion originated from the inside-out or outside-in;

- Severe necrotic dermatitis, etiology unknown, nephritis, parasitism.

Fawn #99 - Picked up from a wild habitat and died enroute to the UC Davis lab where the necropsy was performed. Fresh blood samples, taken before death, were delivered to the lab.

- The fawn had severe cellulites and ulcerative dermatitis;

- The histologic lesions in the epidermis were suggestive of a bacterial infection, but the initial cause is unclear;

- Low liver copper and selenium levels and above normal zinc levels.

This disease differs from any other condition we have encountered in fawn rehabilitation. It occurs both in a captive or wild environment. No lab work has positively identified the underlying cause of the disease. All vets agree they have not seen anything similar in either domestic or wild mammals. It is deer specific. The heavy covering of bacterial infection is not often present. The disease is usually first noticed as a deep, raw, red lesion on the back of the neck and, occasionally, on the head and behind the ears. The hair and dry skin peel back and drop off, leaving a livid raw, red area that eventually circles the entire neck. This disease is always confined to the neck and head regions, never traveling to the rest of the body where ticks and other parasites are abundant. If this is a simple tick infection, why doesn’t it appear in every wildlife rehab center, every year, and in animals other than fawns? Fawns may be infested with parasites, but not always. After treatment with antibiotics, healthy skin returns and the hair eventually grows back. Fawns continue to remain alert, active and eat well. Once cured, we have never seen this disease reoccur in the animal. Why does it not return as long as ticks are present? Free-ranging fawns may recover without medication. However, once the heavy topical bacterial infection sets in the odds are against recovery. It is not highly contagious.

Reports are now coming in yearly. In fawns, it occurs during the dry, summer and early fall months. Habitat is being destroyed at a rapid rate. Deer are highly susceptible creatures that show signs of stress at the slightest change in their environment. We are anxious to confer with anyone who has seen these symptoms in any animal.