Bats Are Dying From A Mysterious Disease In New England And New York
Tags: Nature
Mystery Disease Kills U.S. Bats
A mysterious malady is killing thousands of hibernating bats in New York and Vermont, with yet another outbreak reported in a Massachusetts mine. Scientists are working desperately to unravel the cause. The disease is called “white-nose syndrome,” because a fungus appears around the muzzle of some affected bats. Researchers do not know whether the fungus is causing or contributing to the deaths or is merely a symptom of another problem.
Bat Conservation International has established a fund that is accepting donations to help finance this critical research. BCI is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other agencies to help find solutions to this critical problem.
Describing the bat deaths as “an unprecedented die-off,” the USFWS is working with state biologists and wildlife officials in New York and Vermont and specialists around the country to understand the nature of this threat to several bat species, including the endangered Indiana myotis. No human impacts have been reported.
White-nose syndrome was first reported last winter in New York, where it was associated with the deaths of more than 8,000 hibernating bats. This past winter, the USFWS says, the disease was again found at the same caves and mines, as well as in several other sites in New York, as well as Vermont and now Massachusetts.
USFWS says the outbreak is especially disturbing because these bats congregate each winter by the thousands and tens of thousands to hibernate in caves and mines, where the disease could spread. Each spring, the bats disperse and migrate to summer roosts that might be hundreds of miles away.
Because it is not known how the disease spreads, the Fish and Wildlife Service is asking cavers in New York and Vermont to avoid entering caves and mines until more information is available. Cavers are also urged to clean and decontaminate all gear between trips in order to minimize transmission of the unknown agent.
In addition to Indiana myotis, white-nose syndrome has been reported among little brown myotis, eastern pipistrelles and northern long-eared bats.
Scientists are examining dead bats in hopes of discovering the cause of death, which is needed to determine how the bats become infected and how that might be prevented. Others researchers are documenting the geographic extent of the outbreak and details of its impact and spread.
You can help with this crucial scientific effort by contributing to BCI’s Fund for White-Nose Syndrome Research
http://www.batcon.org/news2/scripts/article.asp?articleID=227&newsletterID=43
Mystery Disease Kills U.S. Bats
A mysterious malady is killing thousands of hibernating bats in New York and Vermont, with yet another outbreak reported in a Massachusetts mine. Scientists are working desperately to unravel the cause. The disease is called “white-nose syndrome,” because a fungus appears around the muzzle of some affected bats. Researchers do not know whether the fungus is causing or contributing to the deaths or is merely a symptom of another problem.
Bat Conservation International has established a fund that is accepting donations to help finance this critical research. BCI is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and other agencies to help find solutions to this critical problem.
Describing the bat deaths as “an unprecedented die-off,” the USFWS is working with state biologists and wildlife officials in New York and Vermont and specialists around the country to understand the nature of this threat to several bat species, including the endangered Indiana myotis. No human impacts have been reported.
White-nose syndrome was first reported last winter in New York, where it was associated with the deaths of more than 8,000 hibernating bats. This past winter, the USFWS says, the disease was again found at the same caves and mines, as well as in several other sites in New York, as well as Vermont and now Massachusetts.
USFWS says the outbreak is especially disturbing because these bats congregate each winter by the thousands and tens of thousands to hibernate in caves and mines, where the disease could spread. Each spring, the bats disperse and migrate to summer roosts that might be hundreds of miles away.
Because it is not known how the disease spreads, the Fish and Wildlife Service is asking cavers in New York and Vermont to avoid entering caves and mines until more information is available. Cavers are also urged to clean and decontaminate all gear between trips in order to minimize transmission of the unknown agent.
In addition to Indiana myotis, white-nose syndrome has been reported among little brown myotis, eastern pipistrelles and northern long-eared bats.
Scientists are examining dead bats in hopes of discovering the cause of death, which is needed to determine how the bats become infected and how that might be prevented. Others researchers are documenting the geographic extent of the outbreak and details of its impact and spread.
You can help with this crucial scientific effort by contributing to BCI’s Fund for White-Nose Syndrome Research
http://www.batcon.org/news2/scripts/article.asp?articleID=227&newsletterID=43
... and more on this topic from the Garden Rant ladies,
“We may lose them all.”
How many of you heard the scary report on NPR yesterday about the resurgence of a mysterious disease that’s wiping out bats, so much so that a scientist made the statement you see above—and he does mean ALL the bats of the Northeast. It’s been in the news for about two weeks, but this is the first time I’ve really focused on it. If you haven’t heard, 11,000 bats in New York died last year and now it’s spreading throughout New England. The disease is being called “white nose disease,” because of the powdery fungus on the little bat snouts, but little is known about it. Scientists are not even totally sure it might not spread from bat to human.
Paranoia aside, this is very bad news just as far as the bats are concerned; they are a very important part of the ecosystem as predators, prey, and as part of the pollination system. I don’t know that I’d want to get too up close and personal with a bat, but I'd hate to imagine a world without them. (We love watching them fly around the roof on summer nights.) And this is especially disturbing coming so soon after the bee colony problems.
http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2008/02/we-may-lose-the.html
Dear readers, even though we don't want to adopt them as pets, bats are precious and this is a particularly serious issue for all of us, whether people realize it or not. The long range implications of this are scary.
“We may lose them all.”
How many of you heard the scary report on NPR yesterday about the resurgence of a mysterious disease that’s wiping out bats, so much so that a scientist made the statement you see above—and he does mean ALL the bats of the Northeast. It’s been in the news for about two weeks, but this is the first time I’ve really focused on it. If you haven’t heard, 11,000 bats in New York died last year and now it’s spreading throughout New England. The disease is being called “white nose disease,” because of the powdery fungus on the little bat snouts, but little is known about it. Scientists are not even totally sure it might not spread from bat to human.
Paranoia aside, this is very bad news just as far as the bats are concerned; they are a very important part of the ecosystem as predators, prey, and as part of the pollination system. I don’t know that I’d want to get too up close and personal with a bat, but I'd hate to imagine a world without them. (We love watching them fly around the roof on summer nights.) And this is especially disturbing coming so soon after the bee colony problems.
http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2008/02/we-may-lose-the.html
Dear readers, even though we don't want to adopt them as pets, bats are precious and this is a particularly serious issue for all of us, whether people realize it or not. The long range implications of this are scary.