WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

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

Moderator: Moderators

WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby PYoungbaer » Jan 29, 2012 12:43 pm

Histopatholgy for White Nose Syndrome has been confirmed in several Greater Mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis) from two caves in the Czech Republic. The research was just published this month in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases:

http://www.caves.org/WNS/Martinkovaetal2012%20WNS%20in%20Europe.pdf

Note that this is the first confirmation of any bat deaths in Europe from WNS. Numbers are small; widespread mortalities have not been observed, and researchers have been looking for several years. Other European research has observed that Geomyces destructans is widespread, particularly in Northern Europe, but not observed in the South.

Note that the Myotis myotis typically weighs 28g in hibernation, a much larger bat than the North American Little Brown (Myotis lucifugus), which ranges from 6-10g. Some speculate that size may be a factor in species resistance, both in Europe and N. America.
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: WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby BrianC » Jan 30, 2012 10:02 am

This gives some cause for real thinking!
User avatar
BrianC
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 2061
Joined: Oct 2, 2006 2:34 pm
Location: up on this here mountain
  

Re: WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby PYoungbaer » Jan 31, 2012 2:55 pm

Here's a post on the USFWS blog by Dr. Carol Meteyer, one of the researchers on the Czech bat study. She is part of the WNS investigative team at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wisconsin. The piece is informative, concise, and very readable.
http://whitenosebats.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/guest-blog-meteyer/
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: WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby nathanroser » Feb 1, 2012 9:53 am

Makes sense to me, WNS might keep population densities below a certain level permanently, there will still be deaths from it but a low mortality rate after the initial die off. Also uninfected bats could still be woken up by infected bats flying around, so the smaller the colony, the less bats in a colony the lower mortality since they wouldn't disturb each other as much. Still raises more questions though, G. destructans could also be non-native to Europe, so what we're seeing is a remnant population of bats that has been depleted by WNS a long time ago. So then where the heck did the fungus originate from in the first place?
User avatar
nathanroser
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 371
Joined: Feb 6, 2011 12:44 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Name: Nathan Roser
NSS #: 62848
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Syracuse University Outing Club
  

Re: WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby BrianC » Feb 1, 2012 10:07 am

muddyface wrote:Makes sense to me, WNS might keep population densities below a certain level permanently, there will still be deaths from it but a low mortality rate after the initial die off. Also uninfected bats could still be woken up by infected bats flying around, so the smaller the colony, the less bats in a colony the lower mortality since they wouldn't disturb each other as much. Still raises more questions though, G. destructans could also be non-native to Europe, so what we're seeing is a remnant population of bats that has been depleted by WNS a long time ago. So then where the heck did the fungus originate from in the first place?


Possibly shows that the original spread from Europe by cavers was way off track, wrong, criminal at least without proper diagnosis. This is why The USFWS should never speculate on opinion as relevant facts will be reached in time. Some one's papers might need tweaking a lot by this information.
User avatar
BrianC
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 2061
Joined: Oct 2, 2006 2:34 pm
Location: up on this here mountain
  

Re: WNS Confirmed in Czech Republic

Postby LukeM » Feb 1, 2012 11:35 am

BrianC wrote:Possibly shows that the original spread from Europe by cavers was way off track, wrong, criminal at least without proper diagnosis. This is why The USFWS should never speculate on opinion as relevant facts will be reached in time. Some one's papers might need tweaking a lot by this information.


Well, it does seem that the best evidence still suggests a transmission from Europe to the U.S. though it's far from a sure thing. I don't think the USFWS is claiming any transmission to the U.S. would have had to have been by cavers.

It hasn't been detected outside the U.S. or Europe and European bats show signs of complete or partial resistance and depleted numbers. There are only so many conclusions that can be drawn from the given data. Sure, this WNS site in the Czech Republic will change how we look at things, but at the moment I don't see any other region being the point of origin as having a stronger basis in fact.

Or am I missing some important alternate theories about the direction of spread?
User avatar
LukeM
NSS Hall Of Fame Poster
 
Posts: 705
Joined: Jan 30, 2008 2:53 pm
Location: Albany, NY
Name: Luke Mazza
NSS #: 59317
Primary Grotto Affiliation: Syracuse University Outing Club
  


Return to White Nose Syndrome (WNS)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

cron