http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?smp=&lang=engA mysterious fungus that has wiped out millions of bats in the northeastern United States is spreading across Tennessee faster than expected, biologists say. The state's first case of white-nose syndrome was reported last February in a cave in Sullivan County, in upper East Tennessee. Since then, infected bats have been found in four more caves on the Cumberland Plateau. Cory Holliday, cave specialist for The Nature Conservancy, said biologists found bats infected with early stages of the fungus as recently as a few weeks ago. "We expected to see it in eastern Tennessee this winter, but we didn't know how far west it would spread," Holliday said. "We had hoped we wouldn't see it on the Cumberland Plateau this soon." White-nose syndrome is caused by an exotic fungus that thrives in the cool, damp environment of caves and mines. Bats infected with the fungus awaken during hibernation and burn off precious fat reserves, leading to starvation and death. The fungus has killed more than 90 percent of the bats in caves and mines throughout the northeast, and is just now showing up in the southeast. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park recently confirmed its first case of white-nose syndrome on a little brown bat collected while hibernating in the park's White Oak Blowhole cave, the largest known Indiana bat hibernacula in Tennessee.
Tennessee has more than 9,000 caves -- more caves than any other state. There are 15 bat species in Tennessee, but not all are cave hibernators and subject to white-nose syndrome. The state's two federally endangered bat species, gray and Indiana bats, so far have not been found with the fungus. Last year, the closest white-nose syndrome came to Tennessee was a cave in southwestern Virginia. In February of this year, the fungus made its first Tennessee appearance in a cave in Sullivan County, and then in a cave in nearby Carter County. After that, the disease was confirmed on the Cumberland Plateau, first in Dunbar Cave, part of a state natural area in Montgomery County, and then in a cave in Fentress County. As recently as last week, white-nose syndrome was diagnosed in bats collected from a cave in Van Buren County. In Tennessee, the fungus so far has been found only on tri-colored bats (formerly known as the eastern pipistrelle), and northern long-eared bats. Researchers are scrambling to develop an effective treatment that controls the fungus without harming the caves' delicate ecosystems. This winter, scientists inspected a number of Tennessee's best-known bat caves in a stepped up effort to track the disease. Meanwhile, white-nose syndrome has been confirmed for the first time in a Missouri cave about 300 miles from the next closest known site of infestation in Tennessee. Holliday said that while most of the Tennessee caves infected with the fungus are frequently visited by people, it remains unclear whether the disease is spread by people or by migrating bats. "The fungus certainly has spread a lot faster and farther in the past two years than it did in the previous two years," he said. "In no way did we anticipate how widespread it would be in Tennessee this year."
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which can mean more mosquitos, etc.
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