1, 2Joseph R. McDermott, 1Tommy Apostolopoulos, 1John T. Hast, 1Christine Casey, 1Kathleen Williams 1Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. 1 Sportsman’s Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601. 2Corresponding Author: Joseph R. McDermott. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife resources. 1 Sportsman’s Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) has had a CWD Response Plan in place since 2002. Approved by the Commission, the Plan’s main objective is to guide KDFWR’s initial actions upon a positive CWD detection either inside of the state or near the border. KDFWR first implemented its Response Plan in 2021 following multiple detections <10 miles from the border in Tennessee. Following three years of enhanced CWD surveillance, KDFWR detected its first positive case in a wild deer harvested in Ballard County, KY in late 2023. Less than one year later KDFWR received notification of another positive animal, this time in a captive deer nearly 200 miles east of the original detection. A discussion of the state agency’s response to these detections is found herein.
