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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—White-nose syndrome (WNS), a condition that has been associated with the deaths of up to 200,000 hibernating bats in the northeastern United States, has been linked to a newly identified fungus, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study published in the October issue of the journal Science.

In early 2006, the mysterious disease started spreading through caves and killing off droves of bats in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. The white fungus is visually striking and often found on dead and dying bats’ noses, ears, and wing membranes.

THE DETAILS: USGS researchers examined 117 dead bats found at 18 sites in the Northeast between February and April 2008. They found the white fungus on 105 of the 117 bats. More than 65% of the fungus-infected bats that were analyzed had little or no fat reserves; stored fat is critical for the bats to survive winter hibernation in their caves. Apparently some of the emaciated bats wake from hibernation searching for food in winter, when there isn’t any available.

Lead author David Blehert, PhD, microbiologist at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisc., says researchers are trying to figure out whether WNS emerged because the fungus was recently introduced into caves by people or other animals, or if it was always present, but is now killing bats suffering from weakened immune systems due to some other cause.