VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

This is a forum intended only for discussion of White Nose Syndrome.

Moderator: Moderators

VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby PYoungbaer » Jun 7, 2010 6:36 pm

Virginia's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries reports Geomyces destructans found on another species: Southeastern Myotis. The following is excerpted from the USFWS alert:

An individual Myotis austroriparius was collected from Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County and sent to the National Wildlife Health Center for WNS testing.

5/10/10 This single bat was found alive but very debilitated and heavily parasitized on the ground during daylight hours in Pocahontas State Park (Chesterfield Co., VA) on 5/1/10. The animal died shortly after capture and was noted to have flaking on its arms and be dehydrated. Bat was submitted to NWHC on 5/7 for testing for white-nose syndrome (WNS). Brain from this animal tested POSITIVE for rabies. The VA Public Health Dept. has been notified of this case PCR and histology are pending for WNS testing.

6/3/10 PCR of both wing and muzzle tissues from this specimen have tested POSITIVE for Geomyces destructans, the fungal agent causing skin infections in WNS affected bats. Follow-up sequencing was a 100% genetic match for G. destructans. Histologic examination of the muzzle, ear and wing tissues did not have evidence of fungal infection in the sections observed. Further examination of the tissues is being pursued to look for isolated areas of fungal skin infection. Until these results are available, this bat is considered "suspect positive" for WNS because it did harbor the fungus associated with the disease as confirmed by PCR and sequencing. This represents a new species of bat that has come in contact with G. destructans although the species susceptibility to develop WNS is currently not known.
PYoungbaer
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 1365
Joined: Apr 30, 2008 4:04 pm
Location: Plainfield, VT
NSS #: 16161 CM FE
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Vermont Cavers Association
  

Re: VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby wyandottecaver » Jun 7, 2010 6:45 pm

maybe the rabies killed off the fungus :big grin:

Hmmm half-seriously....bats are VERY susceptible to rabies...wouldn't it be ironic if we were just seeing a massive rabies outbreak where the initial rabid bat passed along GD as well, and GD simply hitchhiked on the infected bats and "overtook" the rabies infection that weakened the bats in the first place. Unlikely, but behaviour modification is a sign of both WNS and Rabies.....
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)
User avatar
wyandottecaver
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 2902
Joined: Aug 24, 2007 8:44 pm
Location: Indiana
  

Re: VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby PYoungbaer » Jun 7, 2010 8:22 pm

This is actually the first report of rabies in any WNS bat that I'm aware of. I've actually been surprised by that. Maybe there have been some others, but I can't recall any reports.
PYoungbaer
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 1365
Joined: Apr 30, 2008 4:04 pm
Location: Plainfield, VT
NSS #: 16161 CM FE
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Vermont Cavers Association
  

Re: VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby wyandottecaver » Jun 8, 2010 3:17 pm

yes, but were the previous bats tested for rabies? rabies kills bats very very fast so unless it really was a huge outbreak they wouldn't be hard to miss.
I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)
User avatar
wyandottecaver
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 2902
Joined: Aug 24, 2007 8:44 pm
Location: Indiana
  

Re: VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby PYoungbaer » Jun 8, 2010 5:00 pm

Many of the WNS bats have been - and continue to be - tested for parasites, viruses, bacteria, and environmental toxins. I don't know about every one, but again, I've not heard mention of rabies in the discussions with two exceptions: public reports of dying bats coming through the state rabies labs, and perhaps utilizing a prior model for delivering an oral WNS vaccine, based on a successful oral rabies vaccine model (discussed in Austin, TX last year).
PYoungbaer
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 1365
Joined: Apr 30, 2008 4:04 pm
Location: Plainfield, VT
NSS #: 16161 CM FE
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Vermont Cavers Association
  

Re: VA reports G.d. in new species: Southeastern Myotis

Postby cavergirl » Jun 9, 2010 3:57 pm

as to the rabies question:
In a recently published article’”Morphological and Molecular Characterizations of Psychrophilic Fungus Geomyces destructans from New York Bats with White Nose Syndrome” the introduction has this to say.
The first noticeable bat declines in winter hibernacula were observed in 2006 from Hailes and Knox Caves, and Gage and Schoharie Caverns, situated within a 12-km radius of the Albany metropolitan area in upstate New York. In 2007, the Rabies Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health also received unusually large number of bat submissions for rabies testing. The large numbers of bat deaths were considered alarming, because no exceptional events, whether environmental or anthropogenic, were reported from the affected areas during this period. Most diseased animals displayed what came to be known as ‘white nose syndrome’ (WNS), which includes a prominent sign of white cottony growth around the snout. These animals were examined by a number of laboratories for the recovery of pathogenic microbes and/or the presence of toxic chemicals, and a number of animals were selected for necropsy to establish the cause of death. An important breakthrough in these investigations was reported by Blehert et al. [14], who cultured a fungus similar to Geomyces species from tissues of bats afflicted with WNS. Subsequently, this fungus was named as a new species, Geomyces destructans [15], although it is closely related to other psychrophilic (cold-loving) species of Geomyces.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Ad ... ne.0010783


since the bats first went to the rabies labs and yet no mention was made of any having rabies, I think that would indicate they didn't.

in the paper “Pathologic Findings and Liver Elements in Hibernating Bats With White-Nose Syndrome” the authors state:
Of the 14 animals collected for postmortem analysis, 6 were
collected alive and 8 were dead. All were measured (nose to
distal perineum) and weighed. Animals were necropsied,
and an impression from the brain was submitted for rabies
immunofluorescence testing.

http://vet.sagepub.com/content/47/2/214.full.pdf+html



the authers never mention rabies again, one would suppose that had any come back positive this would have been mentioned.

Numerous other reports have stressed that the WNS bats have been examined for known bacterial, viral pathogens and for parasites and nothing but geomyces fungus has been implicated. In Tennessee, for sure, all dead bats must be submitted to the state lab for rabies testing. I would guess many if not most states have the same requirements. The lack of any mention so far of WNS positive bats (until this new one in VA) also having rabies would seem to rule out any strong association.
cavergirl
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 236
Joined: Feb 3, 2009 6:06 pm
Location: TN
Name: Chrys
NSS #: 45071
Primary Grotto Affiliation: nashville grotto
  


Return to White Nose Syndrome (WNS)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users