Chronic Wasting Disease detected in Ballard County wild deer

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 7, 2026) — The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has confirmed a new case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a wild deer in Ballard County. This is the third case of CWD confirmed in Kentucky’s wild deer population, and the second case in Ballard County.

Two independent types of tests were performed on tissue collected from a 2-1/2-year-old male white-tailed deer that was hunter-harvested on Nov. 16. The preliminary screening test indicated the tissue was considered a suspect positive. The secondary test agreed with the first test and confirmed the presence of the abnormal proteins that cause CWD.

Chronic Wasting Disease is an always-fatal neurologic disease that affects deer, elk and other species in the deer family. It has previously been confirmed in a wild deer in Ballard County in December 2023, a wild deer in Pulaski County in October 2025 and nine deer from a captive cervid facility in Breckinridge County, with one in October 2024 and eight in August 2025.

With Ballard and surrounding counties already within the CWD Surveillance Zone due to the previous detection of the disease in 2023, no changes are expected to the surveillance zone counties or management requirements. Counties in the CWD Surveillance Zone include Ballard, Breckinridge, Calloway, Carlisle, Casey, Fulton, Graves, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Laurel, Lincoln, Marshall, McCracken, McCreary, Meade, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Union, Wayne, Webster and Whitley.

Discovered through the department’s routine CWD surveillance efforts during modern gun deer season this fall, this most recent detection was found in the vicinity of the original detection in Ballard County from 2023.

“Our team continues to work hard to monitor the health of the state’s wild deer herd,” said Ben Robinson, director of the Wildlife Division for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “Through routine surveillance and monitoring, we are able to closely track any new detections of CWD, both within existing surveillance zone counties and around the state. While we are always disappointed to learn of new detections, we will continue to closely monitor the disease and keep hunters informed.”

Due to the nature of the prions that cause the disease, additional CWD detections in locations where it was previously confirmed is likely. Prions, which are misfolded proteins, are highly contagious.

“Unfortunately, this new CWD-positive detection was not unexpected,” said Dr. Christine Casey, wildlife veterinarian for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “CWD-infected animals shed infectious prions into the environment, where they can survive for years, making additional detections in the immediate vicinity of previous detections more likely.”

Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has CWD-tested more than 70,000 deer and elk from across the state. A CWD Response Plan has been in place most of that time. Hunters can aid Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s statewide monitoring efforts by dropping off the heads of legally harvested and telechecked deer for CWD testing and aging at self-serve CWD Sample Drop-off sites or via sample mail-in kits. This service is provided at no cost to hunters. Detailed location information, instructions and additional resources may be found on the CWD Sample Drop-Off Sites and CWD Sample Mail-in Kit webpages on the department’s website (fw.ky.gov).

There is no known cure or vaccine for CWD, and the disease is always fatal in infected animals. The disease is not known to be transmissible to people, but as a precaution the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends not consuming meat from deer that test positive for the disease. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife always recommends not consuming meat taken from animals that appear to be sick or in poor condition.

More information about CWD, the surveillance zone and the agency’s response plan can be found at fw.ky.gov/cwd. For questions, or to report sick or dead deer, the public may contact the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Information Center at 800-858-1549 or at info.center@ky.gov, weekdays 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.(Eastern), excluding holidays, or use the Sick or Dead Deer Online Reporting Form on the department’s website.​