If you have read anything about bats in the last several years, you have probably heard about white nose syndrome (WNS). First discovered in New York in 2006, WNS affects hibernating bats and is caused by a fungus, Psuedogymnoascus destructans. Bats contracting WNS are irritated by the fungus and expend energy as they become restless. During hibernation, they expend their fat stores too quickly and frequently die before they reach the end of hibernation.

In an effort to curb the spread of WNS, several state agencies have curtailed human activity at known bat hibernacula. This measure is only partially effective however, because infected bats from other caves or colonies may come to a previously uninfected cave, and spread WNS to other bats. The prognosis isn’t good, with WNS being reported in new regions and caves every year.

There have been some advances in bat conservation and WNS, though. In 2011, Chris Cornelison, a wildlife researcher at Georgia State University, was working with a common bacteria, Rhodococcus rhodochrous, which produces a chemical that inhibits mold growth on fruits and vegetables. He captured several bats and exposed them to the bacteria, and released them back to their hibernacula. Most survived. More recently, promising work has been done in Missouri; Cornelison along with USDA Forest Service scientists Sybill Amelon and Dan Lindner have grown the same bacteria on cobalt, which produced volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Research trials have shown that bats exposed to low levels of these VOCs have improved health in WNS infected hibernacula. If this research is successful in the real world, bats would not have to be handled in order to be treated using the bacteria; the VOCs would be dispersed in the air.

Methods of identifying bats affected by WNS have improved as well. Greg Turner, and his colleagues have developed a method to spot WNS-damaged wings of bats long before the classic “fuzzy-nose” symptoms are visible. Previously, a bat would have to be euthanized, and a microscopic sample of the wing would have to be prepared and observed. The new method involves illuminating a wing with UV light, after which, the bat is released. Turner also observed that many bats in PA are putting on more weight before hibernation. A bat affected with WNS would have a better chance of survival with more fat stores.