http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/ The latest news about White Nose Syndrome. en-us 720 Copyright National Wildlife Health Center Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:36:52 -0600 karen_cunningham@usgs.gov tbeighley@usgs.gov http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091018/GJNEWS02/310189996/-1/CITNEWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are working on a plan to help states deal with a disease that has killed millions of bats, though conservationists say the agency also needs to push for $10 million in funding as part of its efforts.According to the Center for Biological Diversity in Richmond, Vt., the disease, white nose syndrome, has wiped out an estimated 1.5 million bats and killed off the entire bat population in some locations. It has rapidly spread from the Albany, N.Y., area, where it first appeared in caves in the winter of 2006 and 2007, to nine states from New Hampshire to West Virginia. It is expected to show up in bat caves this winter in Kentucky, Tennessee and other Midwestern and Southern states, and biologists think it may reach the West Coast within two to three years. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#46 http://www.bu.edu/today/2009/09/03/bat-man-vs-white-nose Report on the research on BU's Tom Kunz and the current research of others studying WNS Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#45 http://host.madison.com/wsj/article_41f8b416-9972-11de-9ecb-001cc4c002e0.html Preparations for the potential introduction of white-nose syndrome into Wisconsin. Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#44 http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/14178/story-2-0-lake-george-bat-cave-nearly-depopulated-by-apos-white-nose-syndrome-apos State Conservation biologist Al Hicks says the old Graphite Mine in the town of Hague near Lake George has seen its population of Little Brown Bats nearly wiped out. Hicks spoke over the weekend at a gathering of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy in Newcomb. He said the hibernaculum, which sits in a Nature Conservancy Preserve, has been infected by a deadly bat disease called "white nose syndrome.""The Graphite Mine was the largest Little Brown colony counted in the world, with about 200,000 animals," Hicks said. "Our guess walking through was that there was about 3,000 animals left."Hicks first raised the alarm about white nose syndrome in 2007. He said the latest research indicates that the disease continues to spread in all directions. "We have not seen any clear evidence yet of any kind of resistance," he added. "The animals that are surviving from one year to the next appear to be animals that simply got lucky and didn't get infected." White nose is now killing bats in at least nine states. Hicks predicted that under the worst case scenario "an entire order of mammals" would be wiped out from the United States.As part of our Story 2.0 series, we revisit Hicks' trip to Aeolus Cave in Vermont last winter. Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#43 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=night-stalker-white-nose On a summer evening three years ago my wife and I counted 75 little brown bats scrabbling out from behind four small shutters on our house in upstate New York and setting off for a night of insect foraging. A year later the number had swelled to 150; the moth and mosquito populations were becoming less bothersome than ever before. Then things took an abrupt turn for the worse: last year the numbers plummeted, and on a recent summer evening this year only six bats emerged.The drop would come as no surprise to wildlife biologists in the Northeast. The house is just an hour's drive from ground zero of the worst disease outbreak in bat populations on record. First observed in Howe Caverns near Albany, N.Y., in early 2006, white nose syndrome has spread north to New Hampshire and Vermont and south to Virginia. At least a million bats in six species have already perished, and death rates at infected hibernacula range between 90 and 100 percent.Many observers expect a wave of new outbreaks this year, even among previously uninfected bat species (so far the disease seems harmless to humans and other animals). Yet despite widespread concern and media attention, scientists are still trying to figure out exactly what is killing the creatures and are frantically searching for ways to stop it. And because bats are essential to the control of nocturnal flying insects, the outbreak could upset local ecologies, weaken the health of forests and even affect crop yields.White nose syndrome (WNS) takes its name from a fungus that looks like a white, powdery substance on the muzzles, wings and ears of bats. The fungus, previously unknown to science, has been classified and named as Geomyces destructans. No one has proved it is the killerit could be just an opportunistic invader taking advantage of some other infectionbut many biologists think it is. It grows only between about 36 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a relatively cold range for a fungus but typical of the year-round temperatures in the depths of most U.S. caves. So far the only bats infected with the fungus rely on insects for food and on hibernation to survive the insect-free winter months.According to Marvin Moriarty of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, another piece of evidence that points to the fungus is that when it grows on the wings of the animals, it causes swelling and scarring. The wing membranes are essential for regulating physiological functions such as body temperature and blood pressure. Hibernating bats are already dangerously close to depleting their stored fat reserves before they emerge from torpor. If WNS interferes with their physiology, it could interrupt hibernation and lead the bats to use up more energy than they can afford. In short, they would starve. Supporting this theory is that many WNS victims are also emaciated, and bats from infected caves are unusually active in winter, perhaps in a futile attempt to find food.To devise a plan to stop WNS, biologists want to know much more about the Geomyces fungusits origins, distribution, mode of transmission and the likeas well as the bats reaction to it. Such data might, for instance, lead to a vaccine against WNS.Funds for fighting WNS have been meager, however. A total of only $1.1 million, from government and private funds, has gone to scientific and control efforts since the disease appeared. Yet in testimony before a House subcommittee on June 4, biologist Thomas H. Kurz of Boston University stated that the funding needed to mount a realistic response is at least $17 million. This past May, 25 U.S. Senators and Representatives signed a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging emergency funding for agencies with the expertise to determine a cause and develop solutions to this crisis.Meanwhile the most visible response to WNS has been to declare caves and mines off-limits to visitors. But whether people are spreading the fungus around is unclear. According to Robert Zimmerman, a caver who has written extensively about the outbreak, the first places WNS appeared in Pennsylvania and West Virginia were popular recreational caves. Yet WNS has not been detected in other popular caving regions, notably those in Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. David Blehert of the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., and his colleagues are working to culture the fungus from the floors and walls of caves, to determine whether clothing and equipment could spread the fungus. Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#42 http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090709/NEWS01/907090352/1006/news01/Senate-holds-hearings-on-bat-killing-fungus WASHINGTON Federal officials said Wednesday that they are prepared to spend up to $2.5 million this year battling a mysterious disease that has killed hundreds of thousands of bats on the East Coast, including some endangered species.Experts in wildlife, agriculture and conservation told Senate lawmakers Wednesday that white-nose syndrome -- named for the white, powdery fungus covering the faces of afflicted bats -- could have severe economic and environmental implications.Bats eat pest insects, such as mosquitoes and beetles, and pollinate many fruits and vegetables."Because of the high mortality rate associated with (white-nose syndrome) and its rapid spread, biologists are concerned that more hibernating species in other states are at risk," Gary Frazer, assistant director for fisheries and habitat conservation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said at Wednesday's hearing.The hearing, which focused on threats posed by invasive species and diseases, was held jointly by two Environment and Public Works subcommittees.Scientists say they have found caves where more than 90 percent of bats have been killed by white-nose syndrome. Infected bats have been found in caves in nine states, from Virginia to Vermont.The disease was discovered in 2006 in an upstate New York cave. Researchers are still unsure how it kills and spreads so quickly."We're concerned if it spreads to the central U.S. because of the large numbers of hibernating bats there," said Jonathan Sleeman, director of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center. "When we encounter a new pathogen, it takes time to research it and determine how it's transmitted."Scientists suspect the white fungus, the likely source of the disease, was brought into the U.S. and introduced to caves by humans, perhaps on clothing or shoes. A similar fungus has been found in Europe, Sleeman said.Besides the $2.5 million the Fish and Wildlife Service plans to spend this fiscal year fighting the disease, the agency has spent more than $3 million the last two years on research, Frazer said.Other agencies, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Agriculture Department and state wildlife agencies, also are researching and monitoring the spread of the fungus.Frazer said the Fish and Wildlife Service expects to come up with a recommend management plan by September."Bat experts from multiple agencies are weighing various management alternatives against much uncertainty," he testified.Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who has made the disease one of his key issues, said bats help farmers protect crops by consuming insects, reducing the need for pesticides. A single bat can eat more than 3,000 insects a night, he said.Lautenberg has requested emergency funding from the Interior Department to study the fungus."Bats are on the front lines of defense in protecting our health and our agriculture," he said at the hearing. "Much is at risk, and the bats become more beautiful as we learn more about them."Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the loss of bats is upsetting "the natural order of things.""If you don't have pollination, you don't have fruits and vegetables," she said, "and if you don't have fruits and vegetables, you have a national security threat to our food supply." Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#39 http://greatlakesecho.org/2009/06/01/great-lakes-bats-threatened-by-mysterious-disease/ A mysterious ailment thats already wiped out more than a million North American bats is headed to critical Great Lakes hibernation sites.White-nose Syndrome, named for the tufts of fungus growing on the faces and wings of afflicted bats, was first spotted in New York in February 2006. The disease has since spread through New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Conservationists worry it could spread as far as Mexico. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#37 http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/05/evidence_mounting_people_may_also_be_spreading_bat_disease.html As white nose syndrome, the devastating illness that is killing hundreds of thousands of bats marches its way across the country, officials are trying to ensure humans arent inadvertently spreading it. Sat, 09 May 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#36 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6408767.html Tue, 05 May 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#35 http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/44070562.html A deadly fungus continues to spread through bat populations across the northeast. White Nose Syndrome has been confirmed in two caves in Virginia and four caves in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#33 http://www.dnronline.com/details.php?AID=37349&CHID=1 Samples of bats found in the Endless Caverns show cave and suspected of having the deadly white-nose syndrome have been sent to a federal testing facility, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries confirmed Friday. Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#34 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/10/AR2009041003631.html?sid=ST2009041003644 For the past three years, biologists in Virginia have been nervously watching a strange die-off of bats in the Northeast as a mysterious fungus spread rapidly through hibernating bat colonies, leaving caves that once served as safe havens for the hibernating creatures carpeted with the tiny, emaciated carcasses of an estimated 1 million dead bats. Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#31 http://www.thetimestribune.com/features/local_story_100092245.html?keyword=topstory Bats are dying off in caves from West Virginia to the northern reaches of New England and scientists dont completely understand why... According to the U.S. Geological Surveys Web site, it is now believed that the fungus, a member of the genus Geomyces, is responsible for White Nose Syndrome. Geomyces members are cold-loving fungi, and this particular species cant grow above 68 degrees making caves the perfect home for the fungus, and hibernating bats the perfect victim Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#32 http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/03/smokies-closing-caves-protect-bats-killer-fungus/ GATLINBURG -- The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closing all of its caves to protect their residents -- bats. Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#29 A mysterious fungus is killing off thousands of bats around the country. Scientists are calling it white-nohttp://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7244605&page=1 A mysterious fungus is killing off thousands of bats around the country. Scientists are calling it white-nose syndrome, because of the distinctive white smudges on the noses and wings of infected bats. Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#30 http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/news/release.asp?id=214 Asking Cavers, Owners of Caves to Help by Reducing Cave Traffic Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#27 http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-white-nose-bats-0329.artmar29,0,403723.story Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#26 http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090305/full/news.2009.142.html Bat researchers study installing heated areas into cave where bats hibernate to allow them to conserve energy when they afflicted with WNS Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#22 http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/209/story/416694.html When Mick Valent ventured earlier this year into the caves of Morris County, where thousands of bats come to hibernate, the scene was quite different from years past.Bats that should have been completely motionless were flying around outdoors. Dead bats were strewn about, many of them with little or no body fat left. And many of them had splotches of white on their wings and at the tips of their noses. As the principal zoologist with the state's Division of Fish and Wildlife, Valent knew exactly what was happening."We found everything that described white nose syndrome," Valent said.White nose syndrome was named after the white fungus that appears on the ends of the bat's noses. It is one of the characteristic symptoms of a mysterious disease with no known cause that has spread quickly, from a single cave in New York in 2006 to nearly 30 sites spread over six states across the northeastern United States.Researchers know there is a serious problem - hundreds of thousands of bats have died as a result - but they are still baffled by the disease. The fungus is clearly associated with white nose syndrome, but scientists still do not know whether it is causing the disease or simply a symptom of a virus that has yet to be identified.David Blehert, a microbiologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., explained that the dead bats are found only at caves where bats hibernate. Bats tend to stay in hibernation through the end of April, so researchers need to use the next two months to collect whatever information they can.What is more troubling to Blehert is the disease's ability to spread. Imagine a contaminated cave being the center of a bull's eye. The target itself would extend about 150 miles in all directions from the cave.No solutions to the problem exist. Getting rid of all infected bats is not only the wrong approach from a humanitarian standpoint, but it would do very little to prevent other bats from being affected by the mysterious disease."Even if you got rid of the bats, the fungus would remain," Blehert said.While white nose syndrome has not been identified in southern New Jersey, the effects will more likely be felt during the summer. The bats that call the southern part of the state home during the summer are the same bats that are hibernating in the northern New Jersey caves this winter.And while there may be fewer bats, there also may be more pesky bugs around this summer. That is because insects make up most of a bat's diet. A single bat can eat as many as 3,000 insects in a single night's feeding.It is hard for researchers to predict exactly how fewer bats would affect insect populations, but Peter Morin, a professor in the department of ecology, evolution and natural resources at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, said, based on diet, bugs that congregate in the evening and near water are the most likely to spike in the absence of bats."The bats are not going after things that people view as pests, like mosquitoes," Morin said. Moths and beetles, staples of a night-feeding bat's diet, could become more noticeable with fewer bats, according to Morin.Whatever the case, time is of the essence to these researchers to get more information on the disease so that something can be done."This is an ecological catastrophe," Blehert said.E-mail Ben Leach:BLeach@pressofac.com Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#21 http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/archive.php?id=13048 Audio from North Country Public Radio. Brian Mann has been covering the story and spent a day at Aeolus Cave in Vermont. Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/chronic_wasting_disease/index.jsp#28