Deadly bat disease found in Garrett cave

Site third in Maryland to be infected by white-nose syndrome
For the Cumberland Times-News
The Cumberland Times-News Fri Apr 15, 2011, 11:06 PM EDT

— CUMBERLAND — Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologists have confirmed that white-nose syndrome has been found in a cave in Garrett County, the third documented case of the disease in Maryland.

The cave serves as an important winter shelter or hibernaculum for hundreds of bats. The disease has caused unprecedented bat mortality across the eastern U.S. Affected bats display a white fungus on their muzzles or other exposed skin.

“This is the second new infected site we’ve documented this year,” said Dan Feller, DNR’s Western Region ecologist. “We now have positive sites in all three Maryland counties with bat hibernacula.”

A survey by volunteer biologists from Frostburg State University, working under the direction of DNR, discovered the newly infected population. Three little brown bats and one tricolored bat submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center tested positive for for the disease.

At an infected site discovered last year in Allegany County, virtually all of the bats were dead, a level of devastation similar to other affected sites in the Northeast. The disease was found in Washington County last month.

“We’re relieved that our surveys found several important hibernating sites still unaffected, including one of the largest populations of eastern small-footed bats remaining in the United States,” said Feller. “But with the spread of this disease having been fast and unrelenting, the future of these sites is uncertain.”

The disease has spread across mines and caves in 14 states and two Canadian provinces, killing more than a million bats. It was first observed at Howe Cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006. It is caused by a newly discovered cold-weather fungus, Geomyces destructans.

Under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an international, interagency team is mobilizing to slow the spread and find a cure to the disease. It has been shown that bats can transmit the fungus to each other. And although the disease is not harmful to people, it may be possible for cavers to spread the fungus through gear and clothing. State and federal wildlife authorities have asked that people not enter caves. DNR biologists and volunteers investigating the disease follow strict decontamination protocols when working in caves and other bat hibernacula.

Recent research conservatively estimates the value of bats to the U.S. agricultural industry to be $3.7 billion because they eat agricultural pests. Their value to ecology is more complex and harder to measure.

“This level of devastation to our bats is unprecedented and tragic,” said Tim Larney, habitat conservation program manager for DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service. “And it comes at a time when new research indicates that we may have been underestimating the importance of bats in keeping ecosystems healthy and productive.”

For additional information on white-nose syndrome, visit http://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/plants_wildlife/bats/nhpbatdisease.asp

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