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Please contact our Information Center at 1-800-858-1549 or Info.Center@ky.gov if you have any questions not answered below.
CWD is a fatal brain disease caused by abnormal proteins called prions. This disease affects members of the cervid family. Cervids include deer, elk, moose and caribou.
CWD was detected in hunter-harvested wild deer in Ballard County and deceased, captive deer on a deer farm in Breckinridge County.
As of May 2024, CWD has been found in 34 states in the United States, including all of Kentucky's seven border states. CWD has also been detected in five Canadian provinces. More information can be found here.
CWD was first detected in the US in a captive mule deer in Colorado in 1967. The disease has also been detected in Canadian provinces, Europe and Asia.
Currently, there is no cure, vaccine, or treatment for CWD. The disease is always fatal to the animal. Deer or elk can potentially live for years after they become infected and before they show symptoms of the disease. During this time period, they can shed the infectious prions that cause the disease in the environment.
The movement of deer is the primary reason for its rapid spread. This is why government agencies and conservation organizations battling CWD favor restrictions on the transportation of live deer as well as whole carcasses. An infected deer or elk can transmit the disease, whether alive or dead. The disease can be spread through direct contact between animals, such as shared body fluids, or from plants and soil in a contaminated area. Infected deer can transmit the disease even if they are not currently showing symptoms.
Very potent chemicals can denature or degrade CWD prions. Otherwise, incineration of CWD-infected tissues and carcasses at a very high temperature or burying infected tissues and carcasses so no other animals can be exposed can be successful in eliminating the danger of the disease. Burying limits surface exposure to the disease because CWD can live in soil for years and still be infectious.
This can be difficult because healthy-looking animals can be infected since it takes on average 16 months to develop symptoms. Symptoms of CWD include weight loss, listlessness, lowered head, blank stare, excessive salivation and staggering or circling. Many of the symptoms are not specific and can resemble other diseases symptoms. The only way to confirm CWD is to test tissues of an animal after it is dead. There are no reliable tests for live animals.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "To date, there have been no reported cases of CWD infection in people. However, some animal studies suggest CWD poses a risk to certain types of non-human primates, like monkeys, that eat meat from CWD-infected animals or come in contact with brain or body fluids from infected deer or elk. These studies raise concerns that there may also be a risk to people. Out of an abundance of caution the CDC and The World Health Organization do not recommend eating meat from animals that test positive for CWD.
Recommended precautions:
Other living organisms, such as viruses, cause illnesses like hemorrhagic disease or blue tongue disease. CWD comes from abnormal proteins formed in the body, called prions. Prions are not living organisms and not like your normal type of germs (bacteria, virus, parasite). All animals have proteins in the body, but in the case of a prion, the protein folds abnormally, becomes transmissible and causes holes in the brain, making it a neurological disease. Other wildlife diseases, like hemorrhagic disease (EHD), are not always fatal because animals are able to create antibodies to fight the disease. Those types of diseases usually require vectors such as insects to spread, while CWD transfers through contact. The other big difference is that a virus can be destroyed relatively easily, and with captive animals, the USDA has been able to work on a vaccine for viruses in the cervid (deer, elk, caribou, etc.) family. There is no vaccine for CWD because proteins already naturally occur in the body, making prevention impossible. It’s important to know that viruses can be survivable, but there are no cases of survival among CWD.
Kentucky's deer herd numbered only a few thousand a century ago. Thanks to restoration efforts undertaken by the department, Kentucky now has a deer herd close to a million and a free-ranging elk herd measuring in the thousands.
Wildlife watchers by the thousands enjoy seeing deer and elk on the landscape. More than 300,000 hunters are in Kentucky's outdoors each year. Most of these hunters rely on deer as an important source of protein for their families.
Each year in Kentucky, expenditures by deer hunters and wildlife watchers on travel, supplies and equipment for their pursuits generate economic benefits exceeding $550 million, and support more than 13,000 jobs.
Results can be accessed via CWD Lookup.
To look up your results, please make sure that:
Your test result will be updated to “Pending – Sent to Lab” when your sample is submitted to the lab. Final results are typically available within 4-6 weeks.
State law prohibits bringing whole carcasses of a deer, elk, moose, or caribou into Kentucky from other states. The brain and spinal column must be removed. Hunters can only bring back the following:
The precautions listed below should be followed when handling any wild game to minimize the risk of exposure and transmission of diseases or foodborne illnesses.
General tips for processing
Field Dressing, Home Processing, and Cooking
Even in burial pits, the disease stays deep below plant roots, minimizing the amount of prions at the surface, where it could spread much easier. Carcasses should be buried at least 4 feet (preferably 6 feet) in the ground for proper disposal.
No, CWD prions (unlike bacteria and parasites) cannot be cooked hot enough at home to make them noninfectious. Incineration is the only way to destroy CWD prions, which would leave no meat left to consume.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s offers CWD Sample Drop-off sites or CWD Sample Mail-in Kits as CWD testing options for legally harvested and telechecked deer. Testing is provided at no cost to hunters.
Bucks and does of any age.
Approximately 2-3 weeks. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff make every effort to get samples to the laboratory as quickly as possible. If your deer tests positive for CWD, you will be contacted by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
The CDC recommends that hunters strongly consider having deer that are harvested within CWD Surveillance Areas tested prior to consuming the meat. Until the CWD test results are returned, harvested meat can be frozen as unprocessed quarters or as fully processed and packaged meat. However, label and separate each individual deer in your freezer until you receive the CWD test results. If the deer tests positive for CWD and you choose to discard the meat, it can be double bagged and disposed of at a lined landfill or other approved methods for disposal. If you have any questions, please contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will contact you with the information and recommendations for the next steps.
A licensed taxidermist shall dispose of any unused cervide carcass material by either: