----- Original Message -----
From: "jennifer" <bigredfo...@yahoo.com>
To: <nmbat_working_gr...@googlegroups.com>; <s...@caver.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 6:27 PM
Subject: [SWR] WNS confirmed in Indiana
Here's the press release - just out:
DNR NEWS
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
402 W. Washington St. W255 B
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2748
Phone: (317) 232-4200
For immediate release: Feb. 1, 2011
Bat tests positive for white-nosed fungus
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service have received confirmation that a bat found in a southern Indiana
cave
has tested positive for the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome. The
case is
the state’s first for the WNS fungus, believed to be responsible for the
deaths
of more than one million bats in the eastern United States.
Researchers doing biennial bat counts at Endless Cave in Washington County
discovered two little brown bats on Jan. 23 that exhibited the white
fungus
characteristic of WNS. One of the bats was euthanized and sent to the U.S.
Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin,
which
later confirmed the presence of the WNS-associated fungus.
Additional bats with signs of WNS were discovered during routine bat count
surveys at other caves.
“We knew WNS was likely to reach Indiana caves this year, and we have been
working closely with biologists from the DNR to prepare for this as well
as we
could,” said Tom Melius, the Service’s Midwest Regional Director.
“Nonetheless,
it is devastating to actually confirm the presence of the fungus and
witness the
symptoms of WNS in bats. While there is currently no cure and no treatment
for
this disease, we will put all our energies into contributing to the
ongoing
efforts to understand and combat WNS.”
The fungus has been discovered in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and the
provinces of
Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Researchers associate WNS with a newly identified fungus, Geomyces
destructans,
which thrives in the cold and humid conditions characteristic of caves and
mines
used by hibernating bats.
Experts believe WNS is transmitted primarily from bat to bat, but they
also
caution it may be transmitted by humans inadvertently carrying fungal
spores
from cave to cave on their clothing and caving gear.
The DNR closed public access to all caves on state-managed properties two
years
ago, including Endless Cave in the Cave River Valley Natural Area managed
by the
DNR Division of State Parks & Reservoirs as part of Spring Mill State
Park.
“We will continue to keep all of our caves closed, and we are urging
private
cave owners to either not allow access to their caves or require visitors
to
follow USFWS decontamination procedures,” DNR deputy director John Davis
said.
“The whole effort is to slow the spread and have movement of the disease
not be
exacerbated by human interference.”
Physical signs associated with WNS are a white fungus on the bat’s nose,
wings,
ears or tail membrane. Bats afflicted with WNS often exhibit unusual
behavior in
winter, including clustering near hibernacula entrances. Affected bats
also may
leave their hibernacula during the day and may be observed flying or
clinging to
rocks outside or on nearby buildings. Dead or dying bats are often found
on the
ground near affected areas.
For more information about white-nose syndrome,
visit www.dnr.in.gov/batdisease and www.fws.gov/whitenosesyndrome
-30-
Media contact: Phil Bloom, DNR Division of Communications, 317-232-4003
or pbl...@dnr.in.gov
Georgia Parham, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 812-334-4261 x 1203
or georgia_par...@fws.gov
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