A bat hair colonized by Geomyces destructans under a microscope. Photo via Wikipedia.
Adam Bosch of the Times Herald-Record reported on Saturday that scientists have proven that bats across the county are being killed by an odd, cold-loving fungus called Geomyces destructans:
Scientists found that a fungus called Geomyces destructans causes the white-nose syndrome that has been killing bats since at least 2006. White-nose syndrome — which gets its name from the fuzzy, white fungus that grows around the noses of infected bats — kills bats by depleting their fat reserves before they emerge from hibernation.
A federal study helped prove that the fungus is responsible for killing the bats. From the study's abstract:
Here we demonstrate that exposure of healthy little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) to pure cultures of G. destructans causes WNS. Live G. destructans was subsequently cultured from diseased bats, successfully fulfilling established criteria for the determination of G. destructans as a primary pathogen. We also confirmed that WNS can be transmitted from infected bats to healthy bats through direct contact. Our results provide the first direct evidence that G. destructans is the causal agent of WNS and that the recent emergence of WNS in North America may represent translocation of the fungus to a region with a naive population of animals.
Still, right now, there is no cure, Bosch reports:
If pinpointing the problem was difficult, biologists believe solving it will be harder.
Treating millions of wild bats is unrealistic, they said, and stripping the fungus from caves could disturb other parts of the sensitive habitat. Federal, state and nonprofit experts continue to ponder solutions.
