MADISON — The state Department of Natural Resources is ready to modify its approach toward chronic wasting disease after five years of trying to eliminate the fatal brain ailment from Wisconsin's deer herd, officials say.

According to a briefing this week for the Natural Resources Board, which sets policy for the DNR, the assessment by DNR staffers and specialists from other agencies and the University of Wisconsin System caused the DNR to conclude the approach should be one of containing the disease and then working to control and eliminate it.

The DNR's initial strategy when the disease was first found in the Mount Horeb area in 2002 — its first appearance in deer east of the Mississippi River — was to kill enough deer in that area to eliminate the disease.

But a $26.8 million effort since then has not wiped out the disease. It remains centered in the region west of Madison in parts of Dane and Iowa counties but also has appeared in other spots across southern Wisconsin, including northern Walworth County.

"As a Monday morning quarterback, it would have been nice to have come out of the gate with (containment) five years ago," DNR Secretary Scott Hassett said. "But five years ago, this was one big scary thing that popped up."

The DNR said in a memo that it still favors killing a large number of deer, using "nontraditional and, potentially, controversial methods" if necessary.

Options could include sharpshooters and bounty hunters, possibly using helicopters, to kill deer in areas where traditional hunting has not cut the population.

"Some of these options would be difficult politically," Hassett said after the meeting. "But one of the reasons we're doing this is to test the waters."

He said the DNR would brief the board in February on possible options.

Recent research indicates the disease can be spread from animal to animal through saliva, meaning that higher concentrations of deer could foster transmission.

Other research indicates there appears to be little likelihood it can spread to humans.