Deer at Breckinridge County farm tests positive for chronic wasting disease

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife officials are evaluating the next steps after a deer from a Breckinridge County farm tested positive for chronic wasting disease. 

Kentucky Department of Agriculture lab testing confirmed that the dead deer had chronic wasting disease. It’s the second recorded case in Kentucky this year and the first in a captive cervid.

KFW says CWD is caused by prions and affects white-tailed deer, elk, and other animals in the deer family. The disease has no known cure or vaccine, and is always fatal in infected animals.

The disease is not known to be transmissible to people, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not consuming meat from an infected animal or an animal that appears to be sick or in poor condition. The Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine restricting movement of deer or deer products into and out of the Breckinridge County farm.

Hunters can aid statewide monitoring by reporting sick deer to KFW and by dropping off the head of legally harvested and tele-checked deer for testing and aging at self-serve CWD sample drop-off sites. Location information, instructions, and more information on this free service is available on the KFW website.

More information on efforts to contain CWD can also be found on the KFW website.