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A fungus that causes the often-fatal white-nose syndrome in bats has been found in two caves in eastern New Mexico. These caves are located within the Bureau of Land Management’s Roswell Field Office in De Baca and Lincoln counties.
BLM Wildlife Biologist Marikay Ramsey said New Mexico has not had any cases of white nose syndrome in bats in the past and the biologists will need to do further testing to determine if the disease is present in the state. That means euthanizing a bat and analyzing it in a lab. However, she said the fungus was found on cave walls and evidence of the disease were seen on certain bats.
Fungus causing bat disease found in eastern New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is announcing that the fungus
Pseudogymnoascus destructans (
Pd) has been detected on hibernating bats and cave walls in two eastern New Mexico caves managed by its Roswell Field Office.
Pd is an invasive fungus that can spread rapidly, primarily through bat-to-bat contact, and that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS), in hibernating bats. WNS has killed millions of bats in North America. According to a recent study published in
Conservation Biology, the disease has killed over 90 percent of exposed populations of three bat species in fewer than 10 years.
Photo credits: Carolyn Marsh and Connor Burge, The Times Anna Ortiz, The Times
HAMMOND â While a mass die-off of waterfowl from earlier this year is still being investigated at Wolf Lake, another investigation was sparked after pieces of plastic and Styrofoam were found in the water in the nearby George Lake in Hammond.
Ron Novak, director of the Hammond Department of Environmental Management, said the Indiana Department of Environmental Management was contacted to investigate after plastic pellets were found by a resident April 3 in the north basin of George Lake.
âWe have been working with IDEM to gather the information on that particular discharge, working with the Hammond Sanitary District and the Hammond Port Authority,â Novak said at a public meeting April 21 at Lost Marsh Golf Course. âWeâve had several meetings with IDEM and we are looking at where that material came from and identifying the material.â
A myotis bat, found dead in Fallon County in southeastern Montana, has been confirmed positive for white-nose syndrome. Â
The bat was sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI, for analysis. It tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats. A pathologist also confirmed characteristic WNS lesions in the skin of the bat. Â
Biologists with Fish, Wildlife & Parks have been closely monitoring for WNS in recent years as part of an effort to track the impacts of the disease once it arrives, but this is the first case detected in Montana. Bat droppings and environmental samples collected in six eastern Montana counties last summer tested positive for the Pd fungus; however, presence of the fungus does not necessarily confirm the presence of the disease. Also last year, WNS was detected just across the border in North Dakota. Â
MILES CITY â A myotis bat, found dead in Fallon County in southeastern Montana, has been confirmed positive for white-nose syndrome.
The bat was sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for analysis. It tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats. A pathologist also confirmed characteristic WNS lesions in the skin of the bat.
Biologists with Fish, Wildlife & Parks have been closely monitoring for WNS in recent years as part of an effort to track the impacts of the disease once it arrives, but this is the first case detected in Montana. Bat droppings and environmental samples collected in six eastern Montana counties last summer tested positive for the Pd fungus; however, presence of the fungus does not necessarily confirm the presence of the disease. Also last year, WNS was detected just across the border in North Dakota.