Cavechat.org

WNS confirmed in Wisconsin
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=3169

AND

WNS confirmed in three counties in Michigan
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts ... ins/b052e9

The pace of spreading is at least slowing down.

bigredfoote wrote:WNS confirmed in Wisconsin
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=3169

AND

WNS confirmed in three counties in Michigan
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts ... ins/b052e9

I find the difference between the two postings with regard to cavers interesting. The WI article specifically mentions "Recreational cavers also have followed decontamination procedures that prevent transmission of disease between sites.", While the MI article says "1) prevent the arrival and spread of WNS as long as possible by mitigating the human-assisted movement of the fungus..."

Can someone please point me to the peer-reviewed publication that proves that humans are responsible for the spread of WNS? If such a thing doesn't exist, what can we do to help USFS and DNR entities to not use that language and not use it as an excuse to deny access to caves?

Greg Jones wrote:The pace of spreading is at least slowing down.

slowing down?
http://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/resources/map

Yes, when I said white nosed syndrome has been slowing down I meant that the number of states that it is spreading to each year is not as many as before. By the end of 2008 white nosed syndrome had been confirmed in 4 states, by the end of 2009 5 more states, by the end of 2010 5 more states and provinces (3 states and 2 provinces), by the end of 2011 7 more states and provinces (5 states and 2 provinces), by the end of 2012 2 more states, by the end of 2013 3 more states, and so far 2 more states have confirmed white nosed syndrome in 2014. But it is still not good news of course.

Of course states get larger as you move west, so new states per year probably isn't the best way to gauge spread. I think we all hope the relative lack of bat habitat in the middle of the US will help slow or even prevent the spread to western states, but it's probably too early to make any claims that the worst is over, and there are probably more sites to be discovered yet in 2014. I certainly hope it's slowing, that bat populations are stabilizing or recovering, and that the risk to western colonies has diminished.

Well at least here in the Virginia Area Region the effects of White Nosed Syndrome do not seem as bad. None of the bats I have seen recently in the area have their noses white so I would say from what I have seen the bats around here are recovering.