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Chronic Wasting Disease

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WHAT IS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE?

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal neurologic disease that affects dee​r, elk and other members of the deer family​​. It is caused by a prion, a type of protein that attacks the brain and nervous system. There is currently no known cure for CWD. Highly contagious, the disease has spread extensively among deer and elk populations across North America over the past two decades.​​ ​

CWD Updates in Kentucky

  • 02/21/2025 - Kentucky Fish and Wildlife ​​​monitoring case of chronic wasting disease​ detected in Indiana deer near Kentucky.

  • 10/22/2024 -  The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission held a special-called video teleconference meeting and voted to establish a CWD Surveillance Zone​ in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties​. This was in response to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's announcement​ that lab testing confirmed CWD in a deceased deer from a Breckinridge County deer farm. It mar​​ks Kentucky’s first case of CWD in a captive cervid. 
For the latest information on CWD in Kentucky, please continue to follow our CWD updates and follow the department’s social media channels. Up-to-date news regarding CWD across the US and Canada can be found on the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance website.​

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​​Report Sick or
Dead Deer or Elk

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 CALL Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at 1-800-858-1549 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern) on weekdays
​​​​​ ​​​CONTACT your area’s regional biologist
​​​​​ SUBMIT observations online via our reporting application​
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HUNTERS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Hunting is the primary method for monitoring and managing the spread of CWD, and hunters are essential partners in this critical effort. CWD should not stop you from hunting deer or elk. ​

Make a Plan for Your Hunt
​Hunting in the CWD S​urveillance Zone? A CWD Surveillance​ Zone is in effect for Ballard, Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall, and McCracken counties, in addition​ to Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties. Know the regulations before hunting in these counties. ​​

Statewide CWD Testing Options: Testing your harvest for CWD helps Kentucky Fish and Wildlife detect CWD-infected animals. This is crucial to prevent further spread of the disease to healthy populations.


Can people get CWD? Currently, no evidence suggests that CWD can infect humans. Routine safety precautions should be followed when handling, processing, and consuming meat from harvested game. Hunters should not harvest or handle any animals that appear sick or unhealthy.​ See precautions and recommendations in the disease information section below.


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Hunting Deer, Elk, Moose or Caribou in Other States?​

If you plan to hunt outside the state of Kentucky for cervids (white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, caribou or moose) please know that state law prohibits bringing whole carcasses of a deer, elk, moose and caribou into Kentucky from other states. The brain and spinal column must be removed. Hunters can only bring back the following:

  1. Deboned meat
  2. Antlers
  3. Antlers that are attached to a skull cap having no meat matter or tissue attached.
  4. A skull having no meat matter or tissue attached.
  5. Teeth have no meat matter or tissue attached.
  6. Finished taxidermy products.
  7. Hide

Taxidermists and processors who receive whole carcasses of white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, caribou, or moose from out of state should call 1-800-25-ALERT (1-800-252-5378) to contact their local conservation officer. For further information please review KAR 2:095 Importation of Cervid Carcasses and Parts.

​Related Videos

Please Note: These videos were produced and published prior to Dec. 6, 2023, when the first case of CWD was detected in Kentucky. The videos still contain important information for hunters to help reduce the spread of the disease.


 

Hemorrhagic Disease vs. CWD

 

How to Cape a Deer​​​​​



 
 

KENTUCKY'S CWD RESPONSE​​

​​What is Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Doing About CWD?

​​Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is taking action to protect the state's deer and elk herds. ​​CWD is difficult to eliminate once introduced​, so swiftly managing ​the spread of confirmed CWD cases and continuing to keep CWD out of Kentucky is the best strategy.

​Prevention, Surveillance, and Response

Action Plan: Kentucky first created a CWD Response Plan for a CWD detection within the state or a CWD detection within proximity to Kentucky's border in 2002. ​The response plan is reviewed and updated periodically.​​

Widespread T​esting: Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has tested more than 60,000 deer and 1,000 elk for CWD. Deer samples have come from every one of Kentucky's 120 counties. Testing data is listed in the table below. 

Carcass Importation Ban: To help prevent the spread of CWD in Kentucky, state law prohibits bringing whole carcasses of deer, elk, moose, or caribou into the state. The brain and spinal column must be removed.

Public Outreach: Kentucky Fish and Wildlife hosted public forums across the state to provide the public with the latest information. In addition, the Department created several informational videos and a dedicated webpage (fw.ky.gov/cwd​) to continue public education. 

Adopting National Standards: ​The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted best management practices for the prevention, surveillance, and management of CWD from the report prepared by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

CWD Surveillance Zone: Special regulations designed to increase the ability to detect the disease ​and prevent the spread of CWD are in place for counties with detected casses of CWD or within an outlined proximity to detected cases of CWD.​


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CWD TESTING DATA FROM MARCH 1, 2024 - FEBRUARY 28, 2025


COUNTY SUBMITTED TO LAB RESULTS STATUS
DETECTED NOT DETECTED PENDING
Surveillance Zone (SZ)
 Ballard
 275
 0
 275
 0
Breckinridge
 370
 0
 370
 0
Calloway
 698
 0
 698
 0
Carlisle
 241
 0
 241
 0
Fulton
 170
 0
 170
 0
Graves
 1,​068
 0
 1,067
 1
Hardin
 408
 0
 408
 11
Hickman
 251
 0
 ​251
 0
Marshall
 437
 0
 437
 0
McCracken​
 331
 0
 331
 0
Meade
 234
 0
 234
 0
SZ Subtotal 4,483 0 4,482
 1
Remaining Kentucky Counties* (RKC) 4​,689
 0
 4,687
 2
STATEWIDE TOTALS** 9​,172​
 0
 9,169
 3​​
* Remaining Kentucky Counties are all counties outside of the CWD Surveillance Zone
** Includes deer and elk samples
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​​DISEASE INFORMATION​​

What are the symptoms of CWD?

Deer and elk can be infected with CWD for months or years before clinical signs appear. If deer and elk survive to reach the terminal stages of infection, they will show signs of progressive weight loss, excessive salivation and urination, increased water intake and depression. Other noticed changes include decreased interactions with other animals, listlessness, lowering of the head, blank facial expression, and repetitive walking in set patterns. The brains of animals with advanced stages of CWD may have a spongy appearance to their brain when examined through a microscope. This is the result of the disease agent causing holes in the brain.

How is CWD spread?

CWD is a prion disease. Prions are misfolded proteins that cause normal proteins in the brain to misfold, leading to brain damage and death. CWD is not spread through traditional pathogens like bacteria or viruses, but rather through these abnormal prions. Here are the main ways CWD spreads:​​​

  • Direct Contact: CWD is transmitted through direct animal-to-animal contact and indirectly through environmental contamination from feces, urine, saliva, and infected carcasses.
  • Environmental Contamination: CWD prions can survive in the environment, binding with the soil or being taken up by plant tissues and remaining infectious. This means that CWD can infect future generations of deer and elk in Kentucky.
  • Scavenger animals (such as crows and coyotes) that feed on CWD-infected deer and elk carcasses can spread CWD prions through their own feces.
  • Movement of CWD-infected animals can increase the range of the disease over a greater area. Live animals moved by owners of captive deer or harvested deer or elk carcasses moved by hunters pose risks for spreading CWD.

​​​How is CWD diagnosed?​

The only definitive way to diagnose CWD is by examination of a portion of the brain stem (the obex) and lymph node tissue (the retropharyngeal lymph node). There is currently no practical live-animal test for CWD.

How is CWD treated?​

​​There is no known cure or vaccine for CWD. ​

Does CWD affect people or other animals?

CWD is an always fatal disease that infects and white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, caribou and moose.

No evidence suggests that CWD can infect humans. However, the CDC recommends that people should not consume meat from an animal that has tested positive for CWD.

Hunters should follow routine safety precautions when handling, processing, and consuming meat from harvested game:

  • Do not harvest, handle, or consume any animal found sick or dead.
  • Wear disposable gloves when field dressing, processing, or handling harvested game.
  • Avoid or minimize handling of the brain and spinal tissue.
  • Don’t split the backbone.
  • When field dressing and processing an animal, bone-out all meat and avoid severing bones.
  • Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds after handling harvested game.
  • Cook meat from harvested game to an internal temperature of 165°F or higher to kill any present viruses, bacteria, or parasites.
  • Do not eat raw or undercooked meat from harvested game.
  • Do not feed dogs raw or undercooked meat from harvested game or allow them to scavenge on carcasses.
  • Clean and disinfect all tools, materials, and surfaces that come into contact with harvested game.​

More Information​ About CWD

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​CWD RESOURCES​

Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan      ​​​​​ ​​

Commissioner's Authorization of CWD Restrictions​      ​​​​​ ​​

Best Management Practices for Addressing CWD​      ​​​​​ ​​​

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REPORT SICK OR DEAD WILDLIFE

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