This is what I heard, and believe what happened.. last year, hay was imported to horse farms in goshen from a midwestern state, where EHD is relatively common.. In the bails were infected midges. goshen was pretty much ground zero, then moved east, then north, once we got hit with some south winds.
The virus seems to have started up again where it ended last year, almost like a forest fire, that burned out its fuel (deer) as it traveled north.
From what I’ve read, they’re not sure how the virus persists in the environment throughout a hard winter, since all the midges are killed off. Also, out west where the disease is much more frequent EHD outbreaks are much more limited, because the herds out there have more resistance built into them. When it occurs in northern states its usually very bad, since the herd has never experienced it before.. kinda like small pox to the Indians.
