PINEDALE - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department plans to reduce by several thousand the number of deer and elk that will be tested statewide this fall for the fatal brain ailment Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

The agency's surveillance strategy is shifting away from general mass sampling and will now focus more on tracking the disease's movement west across the Continental Divide and north up from Colorado, agency officials said.

"It's not going to be such a shotgun approach like (the 2003 fall surveillance) … it will be more focused this year," Game and Fish Veterinary Research Services Supervisor Terry Kreeger told Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioners during a meeting Thursday in Pinedale.

"Our strategy is evolving in our surveillance program and after last year we've got a very good handle on the leading edge of the disease in the state, so we're going to focus on those edges," he said.

Last fall, the department took samples from just over 6,000 hunter-killed deer and elk in a first-ever, massive surveillance effort aimed at tracking the disease in Wyoming. Samples were collected voluntarily from hunters at meat processing plants, hunter check stations and in the field.

The surveillance revealed CWD in several new areas of the state, including positive tests on deer found near Worland in the Big Horn Mountains and in the Black Hills of northeast Wyoming near Newcastle. In 2002, the disease was also discovered in two mule deer in the Medicine Bow Mountains and Sierra Madre, marking the first time CWD was found west of the Divide.

CWD has been endemic to a 12,000-square-mile area of southeastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado for more than 30 years.

But the movement of the disease to such places as the Black Hills of South Dakota and to the west slope of the Continental Divide has wildlife managers concerned about its spread. The commission approved a CWD management plan in September 2002 that called for the intensive statewide surveillance for the disease.

There is no known cure for the transmissible brain disease. Researchers say there is no evidence that CWD in deer and elk is transmitted to humans. The disease causes animals to lose weight and to drink great amounts of water and to not be afraid of humans.

Kreeger told commissioners the agency plans to reduce the number of samples collected and the number of personnel used in the testing program this year. The department employed about 125 people who, among other things, helped collect samples during the several week long testing effort.

"Last year's testing showed we had a lot of spots were we collected samples that weren't real productive, where we didn't get a lot of new information out of it," he said.

"So we're going to reduce somewhat the number of personnel involved and reduce the samples from 6,000 to 4,000, which should still give us a very adequate sampling."

The surveillance will also include "more intensive surveys" in new CWD areas such as Worland and Newcastle, Kreeger said.

"And we'll be concentrating south of Green River and all along the southern border … basically south of the Interstate 80 corridor to make sure it's not creeping up from Colorado," he said.

Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife executive director Bob Wharff cautioned agency officials to be careful how the department disseminates the surveillance data gleaned during the fall survey.

"It's important that you don't start saying things you can't substantiate, such as CWD has spread to the Big Horn Basin … just because you've got a new positive case doesn't necessarily mean the disease has spread to that area," Wharff said.

"The bottom line is there are still an awful lot of unknowns with CWD … don't send the wrong message, this disease is spreading when in fact it might not be," he said.

Kreeger agreed. "Not to imply or infer that it's there, but we have to look … and that sometimes gives the impression it's there and that's why we're looking," he said.

"There's been no cases around Green River/Rock Springs, but we're still looking at the border," he said. "But yes, this has always been a media-driven disease."

Game and Fish Deputy Director Gregg Arthur said the department received more APHIS money - approximately $280,000, up from $220,000 in 2003 - for this year's surveillance program. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is a federal agency charged with monitoring disease in livestock and some wildlife, among other things.

Arthur said the department plans to embark within the next few weeks on a multifaceted hunter education/information program to inform hunters about the proper disposal of CWD test-positive animal carcasses.

The approximately $16,000 effort will include articles in the agency's Wyoming Wildlife Magazine and in special hunt editions in local papers on CWD, press releases, advertising on radio, television and in newspapers, and internal employee training.

The commission meeting resumes at 9:30 this morning at the Pinedale Entertainment Center.