Alberta wildlife officials will start killing deer along the Saskatchewan border next month due to concerns over chronic wasting disease.

The first cull will be in the southeast corner of Alberta on Red Deer River, near Empress. The second will take place in the Wainwright area, south of Lloydminster.

Four new cases of the disease were discovered during last year's hunting season. One of those cases is further west than any of the previous cases.

Lyle Fullerton, a spokesman with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, said he is not sure how many will be killed this year.

"This year, we're going to try a test on using a helicopter to collect deer, in addition to our usual ground crew, and that may in fact provide us with more deer than what we're able to capture or collect on the ground."

Fullerton said while a cull is unfortunate, it is the only way to deal with the spread of chronic wasting disease — a fatal nervous system disease that is similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

"Because so little is known about the disease and the mechanisms of spread, things like that, the only options that we have available for controlling chronic wasting disease is actual cull programs," Fullerton said.

Last year's deer cull brought in 1,600 deer.