Unfortunately, RD, every winter so far. I just returned from the
annual meeting of the Northeast Bat Working Group in Albany, NY. We
heard reports from each state from Virginia north to Maine.
Especially in the Virginias, and western Pennsylvania, the mortalities
continue to reach that level.
In Western PA, the geographic divide of the Appalachian Chain kept WNS
primarily in the East for the past several years, but it was confirmed
in spades in western PA in 2012. All this is consistent with the
delayed effect of about two years from first early detection to major
mortalities.
If this remains consistent as WNS continues, we would expect to see an
increase of bat deaths in places like Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee
this winter.
Most agencies are planning winter surveys in February and March, and
it's the year of the biennial Indiana bat survey, where there is an
excellent baseline of data. Typically, those results are finalized in
the late full and the date published by USFWS. If you go to the NSS'
WNS web page, and scroll down under research, we have a study on the
Indiana bat impact that was published last year. Unfortunately,
publication schedules being what they are, the data used in the study
was only through 2009, so I added the updated USFWS Indiana bat date
right there on the website through the 2011 survey.
As Penny notes below, this new report continues supporting bat to bat
transmission as the primary vector of disease spread. The Mammoth
Cave press release says as much, and all the federal agencies are
saying it in their official WNS writings. They then also add
something to the effect that humans might still be a factor, and that
precautions still need to be taken (i.e. decon, not taking gear out of
the WNS region, etc.).
Peter
Quoting R D Milhollin <rdmilhol...@yahoo.com>:
I would be interested to know how long it has been since a 90% bat
mortality rate has been observed in a cave infected with the
Geomyces d. fungus.
________________________________
From: Penny Boston <pbos...@nmt.edu>
To: Jen. <bigredfo...@yahoo.com>
Cc: swr <s...@caver.net>; pajarito <pajar...@lists.snurkle.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: [SWR] Fw: Breaking News: WNS in Mammoth Cave NP
Tragic. Our poor bats. It is hard to be optimistic.
However this seems to lend additional support to the hypothesis that
at this point the bats are the probable transmission agents rather
than humans. That is, if what is reported here about Long Caves lack
of human traffic is correct.
Sadly,
Penny
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 16, 2013, at 11:38, "Jen." <bigredfo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
WNS in Mammoth Cave NP Press release attached.
Peter
Peter Youngbaer
White Nose Syndrome Liaison
National Speleological Society
(802) 272-3802
<NR - MACA WNS Announcement - FINAL (1).pdf>
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Peter Youngbaer
White Nose Syndrome Liaison
National Speleological Society
(802) 272-3802
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