OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. -- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said testing confirmed a viral disease killed more than 50 white-tailed deer recently in southeastern Michigan's Macomb and Oakland counties near the Clinton River.

The DNR released a statement saying a tentative diagnosis has been made and the deer died of EHD, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which is often a fatal viral disease.

The deaths have been reported at several locations, including Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills, Katke-Cousins Golf Course at Oakland University and along the river from Hamlin and Crooks roads in Rochester Hills to Utica.

The disease is characterized by extensive hemorrhages.

It's often transmitted by biting flies and gnat-like insects. There is no known treatment or control.

The disease does not affect humans, cats or dogs.

“I’m glad to hear it doesn’t affect dogs,” said Bob Parenti, who lives in Rochester and often hop on the trails with his dog near the Clinton River.

Deer with the illness lose their appetites and their fear of humans while growing weaker.

Due to a high fever, the deer often are found sick or dead near water.

“She looked very sick,” said one Rochester resident about a deer she watched die in her backyard. “She was frothing at the mouth and the nose, and it was just dripping down profusely.”

The DNR said the disease was first documented in Michigan in 1955, and seen again in 1974 and 2006 in Allegan County.

The DNR is not sure how the virus got to Metro Detroit or how long it will continue thinning the heard.

“Large population and a disease like this will bring it down a little bit so in some ways it’s kind of nature’s way of controlling the population,” said Lance DeVoe with the Rochester Hills Parks Department.