The Raging Disease Against North American Bats Seems Endless

 

  You may not know it, but bats make up a fundamental, and mysterious, part of our society. Though they are often unseen, a colony of Little Brown bats can consume many of the insect pests that eat at valuable crops in one night. The Little Brown is the most common species of bat in North America, their diet consisting mostly of mosquitoes, moths, flies, and the like. But a raging epidemic known as the White Nose syndrome has been killing off these insect lovers; the first outbreak was estimated to have occurred in 2006, when a caver reported a number of bats with unusual white fungus on their noses and wings. Since then, the White Nose syndrome has become the ultimate predator for bats across North America.

   When the bats are hibernating in their caves, the fungus starts to spread across their snouts and wings, causing them to wake up before spring. They then flee the cave, searching for prey that is not there. This is why many bats stricken with the disease either die of starvation, or from other bat eating predators. The Tri-color, the endangered Indian and the Northern bat have all just about died out, and Little Browns appear to be headed the same way. While there have been countless attempts to find a cure for White Nose, researchers and biologists are stumped.

  The disease is a remarkably fast spreading one. In just four years (2006-2010), it infected over 116 caves, equaling millions of bats, in seven different states, as well as Canada and the Appalachian mountains.  "One of the biggest problems we're facing is that we don't really know much about bats or this fungus," said Hazel Barton, a British professor of microbiology working at the University of Kentucky. She and her team have concentrated most of their efforts into studying the White Nose syndrome. "But what we do know is everything is stacked against the bats. It's like this disease was tailor made to kill them off in their millions."

  How exactly does the syndrome kill the bats? This too is a mystery, though the general theory is that the disease interferes with the hibernation patterns, and attacks their immune system. Never before has there been such a fierce plague against the bats, or so many millions killed in such a short time. Scientists will continue to help the small remaining percent of bats fight off the disease, and hope to find a cure- fast.