Evidence mounts people may also spread bat disease
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
UPDATE: Thanks to Peter Youngbaer who pointed out an error, I should have said only the Eastern region is closed - and US Forest Service has indicated the Southern Region will soon follow. It is fixed in the story below.
As white nose syndrome, the devastating illness that is killing hundreds of thousands of bats marches its way across the country, officials are trying to ensure humans aren’t inadvertently spreading it.
 Bats with white nose in a Chester, Mass. mine (USFWS) |
The U.S. Forest Service recently closed caves and mines on their property for a year in the Eastern region which stretches from Maine to Virginia and west to Wisconsin. The agency has also indicated it will likely do the same in its Southern region. Meanwhile the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in April asked the public to observe a voluntary caving ban in 17 states and the International Congress of Speleology canceled trips in those states.
Scientists don’t know for sure what is transmitting the disease which paints affected bats with a white fuzzy fungus and depletes their fat reserves so greatly it appears many are starving to death. While researchers suspect bats are probably spreading the disease among each other, there is mounting evidence that humans may be aiding.
That’s because the fungus persists in caves and mines year-round and its spores can easily attach to skin, clothing and equipment – and may be able to survive for weeks or months afterward. Another clue is that white nose seemed to leapfrog over other states this year - taking hold in West Virginia and Virginia caves popular with miners.
“We suspect that white-nose syndrome may be transmitted by humans inadvertently carrying WNS from cave to cave where bats hibernate,” said Northeast Regional Director Marvin Moriarty of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a recent press release.
Last week, 25 U.S. Senators and Representatives, including several from New England, urged U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for more money to help study and slow the disease.
For more information about white nose, go to http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html
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"Mounting evidence" is not present in this article. WNS did not "leapfrog over other states" on its way to West Virginia and VA - it was found in Pennsylvania before that.
The only mounting evidence here is that the reporter found yet another USFWS press release with a "suspicion" of human involvement in it. After three years of study, there is still no evidence of humans spreading this condition, but there's always suspicion.
Actually, since bats do not move between hibernaculae within one year (they only hibernate in one cave) the fact that WNS showed up in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia all within in the Fall/winter/Spring of 08-09 DOES indicate a jump. The difference in the timing is likely a result of when scientists were able to detect and confirm WNS, not when the caves were actually infected. And a more important point is that stopping caving activity is a small price to pay to protect species diversity. WNS is affecting several engangered species of bats. Even if scientists are wrong about the suspected human spread, it is better to be safe and tha sorry.
Let's be clear, there is no "evidence" at all that humans can spread WNS. It is not even known if WNS is the cause of the deaths or a symptom of something else. What is important is that we do not over react and also that anyone who goes into a cave (including bat researchers and spelelogists) should be carrying out proper decontamination procedures so that the risk is managed.
Does anyone know if this is affecting bats that dwell in attics and barns or is it confined to cave dwellers?
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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