Officials from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are gathering additional information and carefully evaluating next steps following Monday’s announcement by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture that lab testing confirmed Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a deceased deer from a Breckinridge County deer farm.
It marks Kentucky’s first case of Chronic Wasting Disease in a captive cervid.
Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by abnormal proteins called prions and it affects white-tailed deer, elk, and other animals in the deer family. There is no known cure or vaccine, and the disease is always fatal in infected animals. The disease is not known to be transmissible to people, but as a precaution the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.
The state Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine restricting movement into or out of the Breckinridge County facility, including live deer or deer products.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials are in close communication with national, state and local partners and will reference the agency’s Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan in response to this new detection.
Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has Chronic Wasting Disease-tested more than 40,000 deer and elk from across the state.
Hunters can aid Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s statewide monitoring efforts by dropping off the heads of legally harvested and telechecked deer for Chronic Wasting Disease testing and aging at self-serve CWD Sample Drop-Off sites. This service is provided at no cost to hunters. Detailed location information, instructions and additional resources may be found at the CWD Sample Drop-Off Sites page on the department’s website. Hunters will be promptly notified if a deer they harvested tests positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.
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