An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
We're updating the Widlife Health Program web pages. More information on projects and research will be added soon.
The long-term decline in muskrat populations is of concern to wildlife agencies across the U.S. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resource's participation in this multistate study examining pathogens and toxicants in muskrats will provide valuable new data and inform wildlife professionals as to whether there are pathogen and toxicant threats to muskrats that could impact their fecundity, immunity, or survival. Results of this study will guide future management efforts and conservation of muskrat populations. The project is funded through the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agency's Multistate Conservation Grant Program.
Project PartnersThe project is a collaboration between several state fish and wildlife agencies, including Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, and the University of Georgia.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal illness affecting white-tailed deer and other cervids, was first identified in captive mule deer in Colorado in 1967 and has since spread across North America. Wildlife agencies are striving to curb its spread and prevent its introduction to new areas, but these efforts have been challenging. Effective disease surveillance is crucial for detecting new cases and monitoring disease prevalence, but determining the optimal focus and sampling intensity remains complex. The Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease (SOP4CWD) aims to tackle these issues by using mathematical modeling, data science, and machine learning techniques to develop quantitative tools that assist wildlife agencies in designing efficient and effective surveillance plans. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is a collaborating partner in this project.
Project Founder Cornell Wildlife Health Lab
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is conducting a tick surveillance project across five wildlife management areas (WMAs) in Kentucky to identify and screen ticks for known zoonotic pathogens. These areas include Clay WMA, Taylorsville WMA, Green River Lake WMA, Peabody WMA, and Big Rivers WMA. Results from the project will be summarized and shared with the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
Project PartnersSoutheastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study
Ahmed M.S., Hanley B.J., Mitchell C.I., Abbott R.C., Hollingshead N.A., Booth J.G., Guinness J., Jennelle C.S., Hodel F.H., Gonzalez-Crespo C., Middaugh C.R., Ballard J.R., Clemons B., Killmaster C.H., Harms T.M., Caudell J.N., Benavidez Westrich K.M., McCallen E., Casey C., O’Brien L.M., Trudeau J.K., Stewart C., Carstensen M., McKinley W.T., Hynes K.P., Stevens A.E., Miller L.A., Cook M., Myers R.T., Shaw J., Tonkovich M.J., Kelly J.D., Grove D.M., Storm D.J., Schuler K.L.. 2024. Predicting chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer at the county scale using machine learning. Scientific Reports 14: 14373
Williams, K.E., Hooven, N.D., Hast, J.T., Casey, C.L., Nemeth, N.M., Weyna, A., Springer, M.T., Cox, J.J. 2023. Vertebral malformation in a neonatal elk born in southeastern Kentucky. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 59(3): 532-535.
Casey, C.L., Rathbun, S.L., Stallknecht, D. E., Ruder, M.G. 2021. Spatial analysis of the 2017 outbreak of hemorrhagic disease and physiographic region in the eastern United States. Viruses 13(4): 550.