White-Nose Syndrome continues to spread

White-nose syndrome in bats continues to spread in the eastern part of the country. In the last week White-nose syndrome was confirmed in caves in Kentucky and at the New River Gorge National River in West Virginia.

On Monday, National Park Service wildlife biologists at New River Gorge announced the confirmation of the disease among little brown bats in the park’s abandoned mine portals.

And last week, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources also confirmed the detection of an infected little brown bat from a cave in Trigg County. With the announcement, Kentucky became the 16th state to find infected bats.

White-nose syndrome is a disease caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans and is responsible thus far for the deaths of over a million bats in eastern North America. First discovered in a New York cave in February 2006, the fungus has spread rapidly – having been detected as far west as Oklahoma, north into Canada, and south to North Carolina.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com