CWD testing update

​​View CWD Surveillance Zone and Statewide Testing Totals at fw.ky.gov/cwd​​

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 4, 2022) - Deer hunters, business owners and other agency partners in five western Kentucky counties played pivotal roles in the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' response to a detection in northwest Tennessee of an always-fatal brain disease that affects deer and elk.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has not been detected in Kentucky, but Kentucky Fish and Wildlife immediately activated its Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Response Plan on Sept. 8 upon an announcement from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) that CWD had been detected in a mature doe in northwest Tennessee, 8 miles south of the Kentucky border.

Special restrictions were put in place for the five Kentucky counties (Calloway, Marshall, Graves, Fulton and Hickman) closest to the detection. Among those, hunters who harvested a deer in the CWD Surveillance Zone during the early muzzleloader and modern gun seasons were required to visit a CWD Check Station.

The department operated 17 check stations in the CWD Surveillance Zone and collected samples from 96 percent of the deer reported to the “Telecheck" check-in system. The disease was not detected in any of the 4,347 samples collected in the CWD Surveillance Zone and sent for lab testing.

In 2021, a total of 203 staff members from across Kentucky Fish and Wildlife's seven divisions implemented heightened CWD surveillance response efforts in the surveillance zone.

The department had planned to operate the check stations during the late muzzleloader season (Dec. 11-19) but converted those locations to voluntary deer sample collection stations for that season out of respect for all impacted by the severe weather outbreak on Dec. 10.

Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has tested more than 32,000 deer and elk for CWD. Deer samples have come from every one of Kentucky's 120 counties.

Please continue to check Kentucky Fish and Wildlife's website and social media channels for future updates.​

CWD Samples for CWD Surveillance Zone and Statewide Totals* 

*Testing data from March 1, 2021 - March 2, 2022 

** Includes deer and elk samples​