White-Nose Disease Will Wipe Out Multiple Bat Species In New England W/I 15 Years - Reuters

[hatrack]

Reuters) - Some species of bats will be wiped out in New England within 15 years by white nose syndrome, a fast-spreading disease steadily trekking westward, experts said on Thursday.

A top predator of mosquitoes, beetles and other pests that hurt agriculture, bats are in steep decline, said Ann Froschauer, an expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hadley, Mass. White nose syndrome has killed more than a million of the bats living in North America.

Loss of bats in North America could cost agriculture at least $3.7 billion per year, according to a study slated for publication in the April 1 issue of Science and released to Reuters on Thursday. "The disease is sort of outpacing us," Froschauer said.

The syndrome gets its name from a white fungus that settles in tufts on infected bats' muzzles and invades their skin. It causes them to have low body-fat, retreat deeper into cold caves, and exhibit odd behavior, such as flying in daytime and in cold weather, when insects they feed on are not present. The cause of the disease is a mystery, though a newly-identified fungal pathogen, Geomyces destructans, is suspected. White nose is mainly spread by bat-to-bat transmission, but humans also can transport fungal spores via shoes, clothes and gear from contaminated sites to new sites.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/01/us-bats-disease-idUSTRE72U7R620110401?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29

[FSogol]

1. Spelunking around us has been banned for 3 years now in an effort to

prevent humans from spreading the disease. I suspect that milder winters are to blame. I've had a nice bat house, space for 100+, for 2 years now and have only attracted a couple of the little guys.

[phantom power]

2. Just in time for the northward march of malaria

:woohoo:

[valerief]

3. My thoughts exactly. nt

[Lasher]

4. Reminds me of the fungus disease that is decimating amphibians worldwide.

Life is more fragile than we usually assume.