Officials with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources say that Chronic Wasting Disease has been confirmed in a wild deer harvested by a hunter earlier this hunting season in Pulaski County.
Two independent types of tests were performed on tissue collected from a 2.5-year-old male white-tailed deer. Both tests yielded the same result: the deer was infected with the abnormal proteins that cause CWD.
This is the second wild deer in Kentucky confirmed with CWD, an always-fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk, and other species in the deer family.
Chronic Wasting Disease is caused by abnormal proteins called prions. 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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 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.
Chronic Wasting Disease has previously been confirmed in a wild deer in Ballard County in December 2023 and nine deer from a captive cervid facility in Breckinridge County, with one in October 2024 and eight in August 2025.
Biologists collected tissue from the animal as part of ongoing CWD Surveillance efforts. Since 2002, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has CWD-tested more than 70,000 deer and elk from across the state.
As part of the response plan, the agency will schedule a public meeting in Pulaski County in November to discuss the disease, available CWD testing options, and any potential hunting regulation changes.
In addition, an update on CWD and suggested actions will be brought before the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission for their review at the commission’s planned quarterly meeting on Dec. 5, 2025, in Frankfort.
For more information on CWD, please visit the department's Chronic Wasting Disease webpage and follow its social media channels. More information about CWD is available through the CDC and cwd-info.org websites. For questions, contact the department’s Information Center at 800-858-1549, or at info.center@ky.gov, weekdays 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Eastern), except holidays.
