The Kentucky Department for Fish and Wildlife Resources are monitoring cases of chronic wasting disease in deer near the Indiana and Kentucky border.
That comes after a recent confirmation of chronic wasting disease in a deer in southwest Indiana near the border of Henderson and Union counties in Kentucky that was hunter harvested. Chronic wasting disease is caused by abnormal proteins that affect 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.
While not known to be transmissible to people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding consumption of meat from deer that test positive for CWD, or any other illness.
To date, the disease has been detected in Kentucky only twice – first in a wild deer in Ballard County in November 2023, and more recently in a captive deer from a permitted facility in Breckinridge County this past October.