Scientists Pin Down Cause of Disease Decimating Bat Populations in the Northeast – November 21, 2011

European Bats Seem Immune to Fungus Causing White Nose Syndrome in US Bats

The catastrophic decline of northeastern bat populations has been attributed to a fungus known as Geomyces destructans, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature. Known as White-nose syndrome, the disease causes lesions on the bats’ skin and a white growth on their muzzles. Since its discovery in a cave near Albany in 2006, it has spread to sixteen states and four Canadian provinces wiping out more than a million bats. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has called it “the worst wildlife health crisis in memory.”

Photo by Jonathan Mays, Wildlife Biologist, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and WildlifeA little brown bat… more

by: Phil Brown

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