I am notconvinced this EHD is the same strain as has been experienced in the past but I'm certainly no expert at anything. There is just something different about it, including the fact that it did not disappear after the first hard freeze during our outbreaks - but that could have been just cases that had yet to develop. And it is in the same family as Blue Tongue but is not the same disease. Blue Tongue easily infects cattle as well and can be quite deadly to them. This strain of EHDhas so far been reported in only one small herd of cattle (to my knowledge) but cattle generally recover from it without issues.

I wonder if the major auto insurance companies operate any biological research facilities.