Equine Encephalitis In Michigan Deer The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, collaborating with Michigan State University, confirmed two cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in white-tailed deer from Kent County, followed by two additional confirmations from the same county. EEE, which can prove fatal, is transmitted by mosquitoes, the DNR emphasizes, and not from deer to deer. Though transmission from deer to people is unlikely, humans getting brain or spinal cord matter from an infected deer in their eyes, lungs or skin wounds could become infected. The DNR has established cautionary guidelines to hunters to minimize the chance of that occurring. The first case of EEE in free-ranging deer was documented in Georgia in 2001. Michigan becomes only the second such state.