Sick Deer With Alarming Growths Spotted Around Henderson

UPDATE: The sick deer spotted around Henderson last week has died. Kentucky Fish & Wildlife collected the deer Monday morning and transported it to a state laboratory for diagnostic testing, according to an updated report from Spectrum News 1. The report says the deer died in his sleep after spending his final nights in a Henderson family's yard.

There's a Facebook post that's been circulating about a sick deer spotted around the Henderson area.

There's some urgency in the post, and the warnings are on target. According to the post, biologists from the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources had already been in Henderson and were prepared to help the deer, but because he was on the move, they needed to track him down before they could safely intervene.

The post says the deer had been spotted on Henderson's north side, including Deer Lane, Watson Lane and U.S. 60 East, the firehouse area along U.S. 60 East, and around the Audubon State Park golf course.

Kentucky Fish & Wildlife advises people to keep their distance from wildlife that appears sick and to keep pets away. The KDFWR has specific forms on its website for reporting sick or dead animals.

What Are Those Growths on the Deer?

So, what ARE those awful-looking growths? To be sure, I'm not qualified for even an armchair diagnosis, but there IS a condition that can cause large growths on white-tailed deer.

They're called cutaneous fibromas, and they're caused by a species-specific papillomavirus. These hairless tumors are sometimes called "deer warts." They can be black or gray and can appear in clusters or individually. In severe cases, the growths can interfere with walking, eating, seeing, or breathing. The virus is species-specific and isn't known to affect humans or other animals.

Kentucky Fish & Wildlife deer program coordinator Joe McDermott has since identified the growths as cutaneous fibromas, according to Spectrum News 1.

Henderson County Is a CWD Surveillance Zone

There's another deer disease that's been getting attention in this part of Kentucky — chronic wasting disease, or CWD.

Henderson County is part of Kentucky's CWD Surveillance Zone because CWD was detected in a deer in neighboring Posey County, Indiana, in 2025, but there's no indication that this Henderson deer has CWD.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological illness that occurs in North American cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. It is contagious and can spread easily within deer populations, and there are currently no treatments available. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that CWD has been documented in 37 states.

But according to Kentucky's current testing table, CWD was not detected in any of the 334 Henderson County deer and elk samples tested from March 1, 2025, through February 28, 2026.