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White-Nose Fungus Found At Mount Rainier National Park

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White-nose syndrome on bats/NPS

The fungus related to White-nose syndrome has been detected at Mount Rainier National Park/NPS file

White-nose fungus in bats has officially crossed the National Park System from east to west, now having been detected at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

Back in May 2017 National Park Service researchers swabbed the wings and muzzle of 24 live bats in a roosting area at Mount Rainier. Recent analysis of the swabs by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center confirmed that four of the bats - two little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and two Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) - had the fungus on them.

"However, no signs of white-nose syndrome were observed on any of the bats that were examined in this colony," said a report on White-nose Syndrome.org.

"Bats use this roosting area in spring and summer, but it is unknown where these bats hibernate during winter months," the report added. "Detection of the fungal spores in this roosting area is especially important to scientists tracking the disease as it is the first confirmed detection of the fungus in Washington outside of King County, indicating the pathogen is more widespread and may be spreading."

White-nose syndrome was first detected in 2006 a cave in upstate New York. While it's not considered a health threat to humans, white-nose syndrome is deadly to bats, and there are fears that entire species could be eradicated by it.

As the disease spreads, its impacts could ripple through ecosystems. Not only are bats efficient predators when it comes to insect control -- some bats can eat up to 2,000 mosquito-sized insects in a single night -- but they in turn are prey for hawks, owls, and skunks, just to name some predators.

Comments

The wording here is a bit misleading.  WNS did not move from National Parks in the east to National Parks in the West.  Rather, WNS spread from the northeast to the south and midwest, then in 2015 it appeared in bats on FS lands north of MORA.  It is unclear how it spread to west of the Rockies.  NPS and other bat scientists have been very careful in terms of sterilizing clothing, footwear, & equipment, minimizing time in the caves, and making management recommendations to minimize the chances of spread of WNS.  But once it is in some bats, local movements of bats spread it to nearby caves without any human vectors.  That is how it got into National Parks in the east & midwest (despite cave closures to visitors).  That is likely how it got into MORA.

 


To clarify, the disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has not been detected in Mount Rainier National Park to date. The caption under the photograph is misleading; only the fungus that causes WNS has been detected on bats in the Park. 


Thanks Chiroptera, we've fixed the caption.


Any sightings of WNS in or around NOCA? I live just outside the Western entrance to North Cascades and have bathouses on the eaves of our house and barn.

 


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