Berliner Boersenzeitung - New tools give researchers hope for fungus-ravaged US bats

EUR -
AED 3.826681
AFN 70.961758
ALL 98.138602
AMD 405.652886
ANG 1.877182
AOA 951.190259
ARS 1045.840133
AUD 1.602814
AWG 1.877897
AZN 1.775245
BAM 1.955573
BBD 2.102956
BDT 124.465544
BGN 1.955633
BHD 0.392554
BIF 3076.642669
BMD 1.041829
BND 1.403837
BOB 7.197164
BRL 6.043693
BSD 1.041579
BTN 87.914489
BWP 14.229347
BYN 3.408604
BYR 20419.848375
BZD 2.099456
CAD 1.456529
CDF 2991.091432
CHF 0.930994
CLF 0.037254
CLP 1018.83097
CNY 7.54601
CNH 7.562783
COP 4573.368835
CRC 530.538382
CUC 1.041829
CUP 27.608468
CVE 110.252195
CZK 25.343745
DJF 185.478458
DKK 7.457729
DOP 62.772709
DZD 139.891631
EGP 51.726992
ERN 15.627435
ETB 127.508391
FJD 2.371151
FKP 0.822333
GBP 0.831468
GEL 2.855018
GGP 0.822333
GHS 16.456089
GIP 0.822333
GMD 73.970229
GNF 8977.957272
GTQ 8.040066
GYD 217.904692
HKD 8.109446
HNL 26.320943
HRK 7.431636
HTG 136.72412
HUF 411.522823
IDR 16610.452733
ILS 3.863061
IMP 0.822333
INR 87.968134
IQD 1364.44153
IRR 43834.955489
ISK 145.523076
JEP 0.822333
JMD 165.930728
JOD 0.738765
JPY 161.242873
KES 134.884334
KGS 90.122166
KHR 4193.512952
KMF 492.268155
KPW 937.645704
KRW 1463.259646
KWD 0.320727
KYD 0.867999
KZT 520.059599
LAK 22878.342838
LBP 93271.167197
LKR 303.144792
LRD 187.998165
LSL 18.795317
LTL 3.076251
LVL 0.630192
LYD 5.086409
MAD 10.478083
MDL 18.997794
MGA 4861.435378
MKD 61.522855
MMK 3383.819949
MNT 3540.134882
MOP 8.35093
MRU 41.443187
MUR 48.810083
MVR 16.10707
MWK 1806.090235
MXN 21.281613
MYR 4.654932
MZN 66.583684
NAD 18.795317
NGN 1767.675143
NIO 38.325549
NOK 11.531328
NPR 140.663663
NZD 1.78585
OMR 0.401144
PAB 1.041579
PEN 3.949541
PGK 4.193513
PHP 61.404399
PKR 289.239507
PLN 4.337676
PYG 8131.055634
QAR 3.798559
RON 4.978071
RSD 117.038068
RUB 108.671879
RWF 1421.834864
SAR 3.911473
SBD 8.734231
SCR 14.266343
SDG 626.663972
SEK 11.501974
SGD 1.402931
SHP 0.822333
SLE 23.68116
SLL 21846.638123
SOS 595.230868
SRD 36.978718
STD 21563.75683
SVC 9.113941
SYP 2617.626467
SZL 18.788818
THB 35.922648
TJS 11.092512
TMT 3.646401
TND 3.309016
TOP 2.440072
TRY 36.018972
TTD 7.074178
TWD 33.946439
TZS 2770.578216
UAH 43.089995
UGX 3848.553017
USD 1.041829
UYU 44.294855
UZS 13362.448044
VES 48.506662
VND 26482.251319
VUV 123.688032
WST 2.90836
XAF 655.880824
XAG 0.033274
XAU 0.000384
XCD 2.815595
XDR 0.792308
XOF 655.880824
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.379151
ZAR 18.862746
ZMK 9377.71492
ZMW 28.772658
ZWL 335.468513
  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

New tools give researchers hope for fungus-ravaged US bats
New tools give researchers hope for fungus-ravaged US bats / Photo: Handout - NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/AFP

New tools give researchers hope for fungus-ravaged US bats

Standing at a woodland entrance to the world's longest cave system in Kentucky, a park ranger warns those about to enter of an extremely deadly fungus -- not for humans, but for the bat populations it has devastated across North America.

Text size:

In one of the most significant losses of wildlife in modern history, the fungus, which causes a disease called white-nose syndrome, has killed millions of the flying mammals since arriving in the eastern United States from Europe nearly 20 years ago.

Two decades on, no cure exists. But scientists are finally emerging with potential solutions.

And their research comes as the disease -- which sprouts white fuzz on the bats' tiny noses, ears and wings -- is spreading to the American West.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) was first confirmed at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky in 2013, thriving in the pitch-black, cool conditions of its labyrinthine tunnels, which the group of visitors quickly descended into for their tour.

If WNS seems like a problem just for bats, scientists say, think again. The insect-eating animals play a vital ecological role and their loss is already reverberating.

All of the repercussions are not entirely understood. However in a recent study published in the journal Science, researchers linked the collapse of North American bat populations with higher use of pesticide and increased human infant mortality.

Particularly in the disease's early days, researches witnessed grisly scenes: dead bats clinging to the ceiling next to sick bats, and diseased bats crawling along the floor, especially in the northeast United States.

Further south at Mammoth Cave, located in an extremely cavernous region of verdant rolling hills and forests, bats have tended to head out into the wilderness to die, likely due to warmer winter weather, simply disappearing forever.

- Mass mortality -

The United States and Canada are home to more than 40 bat species, with WNS affecting those that hibernate -- although not all of them.

Counting bats is extremely difficult, but researchers widely agree the disease killed more than 90 percent of the three most impacted species -- the northern long-eared, tricolored and little brown bat which used to be extremely common.

At Mammoth Cave, mass mortality has also occurred among the Indiana bat, the park's cave resources management specialist, Rick Toomey, told AFP.

More than 400 miles (640 kilometers) of mapped passageways wind beneath the park, which Toomey compared to "a plate of spaghetti," attracting visitors who may not have known or been thinking about WNS.

"It doesn't cross my mind often at all, only when someone brings it up like they did today," Makenzie Johnson, a 24-year-old student visiting from Indiana, told AFP after the tour.

- Right tool, right time -

White-nose syndrome is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), which infects bats during hibernation, waking them more easily and causing them to use up their energy reserves.

Scientists have been scrambling to find a solution -- so far with only partial results.

"If we can come up with a lot of different tools, and we understand how to use them, and use them in the right places at the right time, we could help get a number of bats through that initial phase of disease when we see high mortality," Michelle Verant, a wildlife veterinarian with the National Park Service, told AFP.

One of those tools is vaccines, which are fairly rare for fungal diseases, but are showing promise with comparatively more vaccinated bats returning to maternal roosts, she said.

According to Jonathan Reichard, assistant national coordinator for WNS at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, various disinfection tools for hibernation sites are being studied.

One is a chemical called polyethylene glycol 8000 that is sprayed in caves while bats are away in summer, reducing Pd's presence. Another is the application of UV light. But scientists warn other organisms can be harmed in the process.

Researchers are also fumigating caves and their bats with volatile organic compounds to slow the fungus's growth. And there is even a probiotic skin treatment, based on naturally occurring bacteria.

A double-stranded RNA application is also now under development, "which is something that can be highly specific to the fungus," Reichard added.

"We've gone from sort of having no idea what was happening to now having a suite of tools relevant for use in different areas and different situations," he said.

(G.Gruner--BBZ)