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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
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  2. Terrestrial Invasives
  3. Terrestrial Pathogens and Diseases
  4. White-Nose Syndrome

White-Nose Syndrome

Scientific Name

Fungus, formerly known as Geomyces destructans is now known as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or Pd. (Minnis and Lindner 2013)

Common Name

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)

Native To

Europe (Leopardi et al. 2015)

Date of U.S. Introduction

First detected in Albany County, New York in 2007, but the earliest evidence of the disease is from February 2006 in Schoharie County, New York (Hoyt et al. 2021)

Means of Introduction

Most likely introduced by human activity, possibly by a visitor to a show cave in New York. (Leopardi et al. 2015; Puechmaille et al. 2011)

Impact

Disease of bats causing a population decline of 72 to 88 percent of hibernating species in the northeastern U.S. (Lorch et al. 2012; Puechmaille et al. 2011)

White nose syndrome - DOI, USGS

White-nose syndrome, little brown bat with fungus on muzzle

Credit

Al Hicks, New York Department of Environmental Conservation

Source
DOI. USGS. National Wildlife Health Center. White-Nose Syndrome Photo Gallery.

Find more images

Spotlights

  • Federal Agencies Commit to Continue a Crucial Collaborative Bat Monitoring Program

    • Feb 9, 2024

    • DOI. United States Geological Survey.

    • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey have signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing their joint leadership of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), a collaborative partnership focused on advancing bat conservation across North America. As co-leads of the NABat program, the two federal agencies will work to ensure the program remains sustainable and meets the needs of partners by providing coordination, technical assistance, data products and analyses that make it easier to apply bat monitoring data more effectively in support of conservation. For more information about the North American Bat Monitoring Program and opportunities to participate, please visit https://www.nabatmonitoring.org.

      NABat was born out of the urgent need to monitor bat populations following the emergence of white-nose syndrome, a disease of hibernating bat species that appeared in New York in 2007 and has since spread across the continent. White-nose syndrome is considered one of the worst wildlife diseases in modern times, resulting in the loss of millions of bats across North America.

  • Grant Funding Will Advance a Novel Immune-Based Strategy to Prevent White-Nose Syndrome in North American Bats

    • Mar 22, 2023

    • DOI. United States Geological Survey.

    • The U.S. Geological Survey, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Wisconsin–Madison, today announced that over $2.5 million has been received to develop an innovative treatment to prevent white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease decimating North American bat populations. The project is one of six provided by the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice, an $8 million collaboration between the National Science Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to fund scientific research and conservation activities that protect diverse ecosystems and imperiled species across the country.

  • Bats on the Brink

    • Oct 27, 2022

    • USDA. FS. Southern Research Station. CompassLive.

    • USDA Forest Service researchers are monitoring the effects of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease from Eurasia that has decimated cave-hibernating bats across the U.S. since its arrival in 2006. "The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome grows on bats in the wintertime. It causes them to wake up during their hibernation and burn their fat reserves," says Phillip Jordan, wildlife biologist. Jordan is among the experts featured in a new video, Bats on the Brink. Forestry technician Virginia McDaniel created and produced the video.

  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Reclassifies Northern Long-eared Bat as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act

    • Nov 29, 2022

    • DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.

    • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a final rule to reclassify the northern long-eared bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bat, listed as threatened in 2015, now faces extinction due to the rangewide impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting hibernating bats across North America. The rule takes effect on January 30, 2023.

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

Videos

All Resources

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Council or Task Force
Partnership

  • Invasive Species Compendium - White-nose syndrome

    • CAB International.

  • North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)

    • North American Bat Monitoring Program.

    • Launched in 2015, the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) is a continental program that monitors bats at local and range-wide scales. NABat monitoring efforts focus on the 46 species of bats shared by Canada, the United States and Mexico. NABat provides reliable data to promote effective conservation and long-term viability of bat populations and is jointly led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. Participating members include U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and other federal, state and provincial agencies in the U.S. and Canada, local and regional agencies, native Tribes, academic institutions, businesses and conservation organizations.

      White-nose syndrome has killed over 90% of northern long-eared, little brown and tri-colored bat populations in fewer than 10 years, according to a new study published in Conservation Biology.
      See also: Summing Up NABat Successes (U.S. Forest Service, CompassLive - Aug 5, 2021)

  • Southeast (SE) Bat Hub

    • North American Bat Monitoring Program.

    • The Southeast (SE) Bat Hub was created in summer 2022 to coordinate North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABAT) survey projects in the Southeastern states. The Hub provides services, updates, and content to assist the NABat efforts across the region.

      Since 2006, white-nose syndrome (a fungal disease) has been infecting bat populations across the U.S. This disease has killed some species of bats, such as the tricolored bat and northern long-eared bats at alarming rates.
      See also: The Southeast Bat Hub Coordinates NABat Monitoring Efforts in the Southeast (U.S. Forest Service, CompassLive - Dec 12, 2023)

  • White-Nose Syndrome.org - A Coordinated Response to the Devastating Bat Disease

    • DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government

  • The Delaware Bat Program

    • Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife.

  • White-nose Syndrome and Minnesota's Bats

    • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

  • White-Nose Syndrome in Bats

    • Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

    • White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease that is identified by the telltale white fungus growing on the noses of some infected bats while they hibernate. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is asking the public to report the sighting of any active or dead bats during winter. Please call 208-454-7638 to report sightings. Idaho Fish and Game would also like to know of any sites that have hibernating bats so biologists can include them in the monitoring effort. Finally, the public is asked to not disturb hibernating bats and to respect cave closures.

  • White-Nose Syndrome in Bats

    • Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

    • White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an infectious disease responsible for unprecedented levels of mortality among hibernating bats in North America. WNS was first detected in Indiana in January 2011 during routine winter hibernacula surveys conducted by Division of Fish and Wildlife bat biologists. WNS is widely distributed throughout much of the karst region in south-central Indiana and locally established within most of the state's major concentrations of important bat hibernacula.

  • White-Nose Syndrome in Virginia

    • Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

  • Wildlife Diseases - White Nose Syndrome

    • Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

  • Wildlife Diseases - White Nose Syndrome

    • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

  • Wildlife Diseases - White-Nose Syndrome (Bats)

    • Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

  • Wildlife Health - White-Nose Syndrome (WNS)

    • Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Academic
Professional
Citations