Fungus serious threat to North American bats

[PYoungbaer]

Congress sends letter to Interior Secretary Salazar for emergency WNS funding. Looks like our advocacy has generated some interest. My WNS Google Alert listed no less than a dozen national media stories today covering a letter sent by Senators and Representatives from 13 states. Here's one sample:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/0 ... istra.html

The letter is linked on the WNS website, and also here: http://www.caves.org/WNS/WNS%20Salazar% ... 050209.pdf

[PYoungbaer]

Among a continuous stream of media stories on WNS, this one from Arkansas is a good summary of things to date. It is written from the perspective outside the WNS-affected area, but clearly worried about what may come next.

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/259224/

One correction, the article says that the upcoming second science strategy conference will be in Albany. The first was in Albany, but the second is taking place in Austin, Texas, May 27 and 28. There, many of the same people who first assembled and agreed upon the research priorities for this past year will gather to take stock, review ongoing research, and define the research priorities for the coming year. These are primarily scientists, not wildlife managers, although some of the latter will be in attendance. I will be attending and writing a report, which will be posted on WNS website.

[wyandottecaver]

I just had a little lightbulb go off in my head..dimly of course....

Here we are begging, pleading, and lobbying for money to fight WNS and describing in graphic detail how bad it is. Now we have even convinced Congress to tell agency heads to some degree that it's a serious problem...no small feat even if they haven't granted any cash yet.

So, what do we do with this money? Spend it on basic and applied research to "solve" WNS? Does anyone with a solid biological background and grasp of epidemiology really think that's going to happen now? I posit that at this juncture it's money down a hole..literally. It will help a lot of researchers write informative papers, but how many bats will it save?

If we knew everything there was to know about WNS, what it was, how it travelled, how it affected bats physiology...would it matter? Just knowing it travels readily bat-bat tells us all we really need to know to predict the outcome. The best case is we find some "cure" (copper sulfate is my nominee ) that we use to treat major hibernacula and cross our fingers.

So what's my point? first...are we spending the money we raise in a way that is best for bats and for cavers in the long term.
Second...in our zeal to raise cash without any similiar level of effort to introduce sanity into the regulation and restriction of caving by Federal and State agencies we are also driving nails in the coffin of responsible recreational caving. I mean..if WNS is so bad we petition Congress then isn't it only logical that the USFWS and the States make it illegal to go caving on public lands?(this is happening as we speak)..private lands could follow....to save bats that are already doomed....... WNS will stop when and where nature dictates...not the USFWS.

We need only look at the NE for the future. Cavers can now enter some WNS devastated caves because the feds and State don't own much, there isn't much harm they could do ....unless they travel out of the region and we aren't even sure about that....and there aren't many unaffected caves left. But what happens when WNS reaches its natural range boundary or runs its course and you have states with heavy agency ownership and where there is a mixture of WNS and non-WNS caves? (or no WNS at all) I doubt the Federal or State caves there will open any time soon until someone gives an "all clear" and who is gonna stick there neck out on that one?

Maybe we should hoard our WNS money to fight the human side of the WNS plague and make the appropriate campaign contribution/s to get the agency caves back open that man closed.

After nature does what nature will do regardless.

[Cheryl Jones]

Code: Select all

Congress sends letter to Interior Secretary Salazar for emergency WNS funding. Looks like our advocacy has generated some interest. My WNS Google Alert listed no less than a dozen national media stories today covering a letter sent by Senators and Representatives from 13 states.

[PYoungbaer]

Wyandotte,

All good points and legitimate considerations with Congress and federal agencies. That's why it pays to be at the table.

A few new developments: First, yesterday I received an invitation to testify at a joint congressional subcommittee hearing on WNS. These are two subcommittees of the House Committee on Natural Resources: the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, and the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife. It's being held on Thursday, June 4th, at 10:00 AM in Room 1334 Longworth House Office Building, in Washington, D.C.

I will be part of a panel that includes Dr. Thomas Kunz, Boston University, Merlin Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, Scott Darling, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, and possibly a couple of other researchers. We will be preceded by testimony from representatives from the affected federal agencies. It is expected to last about three hours. I am coordinating with NSS President, Gordon Birkhimer, who attended the NGO briefing in D.C. on April 30 (his summary will be posted shortly on the WNS website). Written testimony (up to 12 pages) must be submitted two days ahead of time, and oral testimony is limited to 5 minutes - basically to summarize the submitted written material. Then, the members will question us (staff prepares questions based on the submitted material).

The invitation specifically asks for our "views regarding: 1) the current scientific understanding of WNS; 2) current Federal, State, local and private responses to its spread; and 3) needed Federal actions to further comprehend and contain this unparalleled crisis. Additionally, if you feel there are other issues that are important for the Subcommittees to consider, please feel free to address them in your testimony."

So, there we definitely have an opportunity to address the concerns you raise, and many others have raised to policy-makers. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be preparing this written testimony, coordinating with the NSS Board of Governors, and gleaning material from various sources, including comments of cavers on Cave Chat. As you know, I monitor these postings regularly, and recognize the wide range of viewpoints and opinions reflected here. I will do my best to fairly represent them.

Secondly, as you may know on May 27 and 28, a corps of scientists working on WNS have been invited to the second Science Strategy meeting in Austin, Texas. You may recall that last year's WNS meeting in Albany, NY, developed the research priorities that guided work over the past 12 months. I expect that we will hear the latest in ongoing research, and then work to develop the science strategy consensus for the coming year. Being a part of these discussions will permit me to present the research concerns of the NSS members, as well as to have a sense about where best to put our own NSS Rapid Response Fund dollars. This timing is excellent, as most of us who will be testifying before Congress will have the opportunity to be together and coordinate testimony.

Thirdly, as part of last year's Albany conference, a need for overall management coordination was identified. It took until last October to really get this up and running, as there was no funding for this within USFWS or any other agency. Jeremy Coleman at USFWS has been performing this role on an ad hoc basis. Just recently, however, a full-time WNS coordinator was brought on board. Her name is Noelle Raymon, and she is working out of the Cortland, NY office, along with Jeremy.

As part of this management coordination, and as a follow-up to the Feb. 20 nationwide webinar (see the tail end of the Research Summary Report on the WNS website), a number of working groups have developed. These cover a wide range of aspects of the WNS issue, including a large group looking at biological and chemical controls (that one scares me), surveillance and possible emergency interventions (e.g. should we have endangered species captive colonies developed to prevent extinction), to transmission of WNS (by bat, environment, other animals, humans).

I was asked by Paul Cryan, USGS, to chair a group on cave closures and limiting the potential for humans to spread WNS. Frankly, I had to be talked into doing this. I consulted local cavers (members of my grotto, the Vermont Cavers Association), members of the board of the Northeastern Cave Conservancy, NSS President, Gordon Birkhimer, and others. All appreciated my hesitancy, but encouraged me to be at the table, so I agreed. Our group consists of seven people. Four of us are cavers. One of those is also a USFWS official; one is a veterinary scientist; one a bat conservationist; two others are from USFWS, and one from USGS. We are currently discussing with several epidemiologists about one of them joining the group, as that area of expertise many of us agree has been sorely lacking from many decisions being made about WNS, including those concerning cave closures and decontamination protocols.

Our charge is to develop a white paper on decision-making related to cave closures and possible human vector issues. We have had one initial conference call, and a couple of email exchanges. A second conference call for today had to be postponed. Scheduling these things is like herding cats. We are working on a list of the appropriate science that should guide closure decisions - what of that is already known, what needs to be known, who should do it, etc.

One point of view I am personally advocating for is the flip side of the closure question - that is, what will guide decisions to re-open caves. One of the things I've stressed here in the northeast with our local decision-making is that if we close, we need to be clear about our exit strategy. How will we know we've won the war? The same thinking applies to the decontamination protocols. How will we know they work? When, or where is it OK to stop using them? For example, if the soil sampling project undertaken this past winter shows that the Geomyces fungus in question is already in the background environment of caves and mines, then what is the purpose of cavers or researchers continuing to follow these onorous regimes? Now, I'm not predicting that result, rather just using it as an example of applied thinking.

Our charge is to have something produced by mid-June. I'm skeptical about meeting that deadline, given the cats, but we'll do what we can. Frankly, in speaking with Paul Cryan about whether to agree to chair this group, I said that it's too bad something like this didn't exist long ago, before all these entities started making closure decisions. But, better late than never, I guess.

[graveleye]

One point of view I am personally advocating for is the flip side of the closure question - that is, what will guide decisions to re-open caves. One of the things I've stressed here in the northeast with our local decision-making is that if we close, we need to be clear about our exit strategy. How will we know we've won the war? The same thinking applies to the decontamination protocols. How will we know they work? When, or where is it OK to stop using them? For example, if the soil sampling project undertaken this past winter shows that the Geomyces fungus in question is already in the background environment of caves and mines, then what is the purpose of cavers or researchers continuing to follow these onorous regimes? Now, I'm not predicting that result, rather just using it as an example of applied thinking.

wonderful!! This is the stuff I'm worried about. Seems like when the government steps in and restricts something, it never gets unrestricted, or at best, takes a long long time. The gov't is the most likely entity to make a knee-jerk reaction and do something crazy like pass a Federal law to make caving illegal or something crazy like that. I wouldn't put it past them.

On another more humorous note, I had a guy I know likened WNS to herpes. Once everyone has it, then oh well, might as well keep doing the things we were doing.

[PYoungbaer]

The WNS Liaison Website has just been revamped. We have a Spring Update, with new information. We've ended a Cave Closures link that is up to date. We've created a new WNS Research Center that includes sections on the WNS Rapid Response Fund and information about the grants we've awarded and the application process.

All the old goodies are still there: the current media accounts, the maps, key links, and other reports. And if you've missed anything, the Archives contain everything we've posted before.

Hope you are downloading and using the WNS brochure for local outreach and education, as well as the Al Hicks PowerPoint in case you need to give a talk to a local group.

Comments, questions, criticisms, cuts, welcome at wnsliaison@caves.org. Spread the word. Thank you.

[Squirrel Girl]

On another more humorous note, I had a guy I know likened WNS to herpes. Once everyone has it, then oh well, might as well keep doing the things we were doing.

How much ya wanna bet *that* guy has herpes?

[Cheryl Jones]

A newly updated WNS brochure is now available on the NSS Web site, linked from both the WNS page http://www.caves.org/WNS and the NSS Brochures page http://www.caves.org/brochure.

Please pass the word, and encourage cavers to print copies freely and distribute to cave owners, grotto members, non-NSS cavers, state agencies, youth groups, and cave-for-pay operations.

Cheryl

[PYoungbaer]

I think it's time to change the title of this subforum to "Fungus serious threat to North American Bats."

It's also time to recognize that we are moving rapidly from a collective ad hoc response to WNS, to a more focused and sustained effort to contain, and perhaps eradicate WNS, although whether either is achievable is still very much in doubt.

WNS has clearly gone beyond the northeast, with all signs that it will spread farther this coming winter, and cause increased bat mortalities in the areas it reached this year.

We also now have the largest documented decline in North American wildlife in a century. Not since the demise of the passenger pigeon has such devastation been seen. The possibility of species extinction is very real. The impact on the ecosystem of removing the primary nocturnal insectivore is hard to imagine.

Is this hyperbole? Perhaps hard to imagine in TAG or the far west, ponder this: this summer, the state of New York is running nighttime acoustical bat surveys. With over 100 regular routes, dozens of volunteers - including especially many northeastern cavers who have worked on WNS for the past two years - have had their cars equipped by NYDEC with crazy roof anntennae and acoustical monitoring equipment. Then, heading out at the breakneck speed of 18 MPH (the flight speed of a big brown bat), they record bat calls. In the eastern half of the state, where NY's karst regions dominate, evidence of the little brown bats and other myotis (Indiana, long-eared, small footed) is hard to find. These bats are simply, for the most part, gone.

It also appears correct that it is the fungus that is the threat. In the various meetings I've attended with the scientists and wildlife managers working on WNS - including the recent science strategy meeting in Austin, Texas, and last week's National Institute of Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at the University of Tennessee, the fungus Geomyces destructans is clearly implicated as the cause of WNS. There is no evidence to date to implicate bacteria, parasites, viruses, environmental toxins, microwaves, or global warming. While scientists are loathe to declare absolutes, there simply is no other plausible explanation. They are also now calling it a disease.

The spread of WNS has followed a typical infectious disease pattern - emanating from an epicenter. This pattern is also consistent with what has now been shown in the laboratory - that it is transmitted bat to bat. While possible that humans have aided in spreading WNS (including possibly bringing it here from Europe in a "perfect storm" of events), the documented spread is consistent with the known flight patterns and ranges of the affected bat species.

With that in mind, there is a noticeable shift in emphasis within the science and management communities on focusing on the most plausible cause and managing it.

This means we are more likely to see more intense and focused efforts on the WNS "front." These would be the areas ranging out about 250 miles from the known sites. Bats in these caves and mines are most susceptible. If strong intervention measures are applied, it is at these sites that the effort to contain WNS will find its strongest advocates.

USFWS is currently going through something called Structured Decision Making (SDM), examining a range of intervention options for this front zone. They range from doing nothing, to full eradication of bats. This could be wide-ranging or site-specific. Other options include sealing caves and mines, or application of fungicides. This, in an attempt to stop and contain WNS before it reaches other areas of the country or the ranges and habitats of other species.

Of immediate concern is the Virginia long-eared bat and the Grey bat. Indianas also remain of high concern, but on many more fronts. A design for a captive breeding colony of Virginia long eareds has been prepared in a last-ditch effort to save the species. Debate is raging about whether the time to pull the trigger on that strategy has come. Some say it may be too late, that if WNS has a significant latency period - maybe a year or more, then the colonies may already be affected, and putting them into a captive colony is doomed. Without a good histopathological diagnostic tool, that risk may need to be taken - sooner, rather than later. That tool is being worked on by the people in Madison, Wisconsin, but it may not come in time for this species. That's the immediate fear.

Up until now, trying to manage and contain WNS has been with broad - and, yes, crude - tools, such as cave closures and decontamination protocols. I fully expect that the approach will become more nuanced - especially if we are successful in using the mathematical modeling to predict the progress of the disease. As more is learned about the life cycle of the fungus, about how it progresses through an individual bat, about how it progresses through a colony or population of bats, it may become easier to predict where WNS may move next. Part of this modeling will include new research data, but much data is known or available, but un-mined, and can help inform responses.

For example, knowing how much of a population is needed to sustain colony, or even species, existence can inform intervention strategies, such as culling bat colonies or how many may need to be vaccinated or otherwise treated. In the human population, communicable diseases can be controlled, even if 100% of the population isn't immunized - but significant portions must be.

The modeling tools hold out plenty of hope, too. With WNS seemingly sensitive to temperature and humidity, there may be real geographic barriers to the spread of WNS. However, that is speculative and will only be borne out by developing the predictive models and then validating them with data from the field. This approach also holds hope for some management models of adjusting hibernacula microclimates to prevent WNS spread, although such techniques would need to be site specific and are resource-limited, as are many things.

Of course, the bats may just keep spreading WNS despite all our efforts, in which case we may see bat populations continuing to crash to a point where there aren't sufficient bats to host the fungus. At that time, the fungal population will also crash and a new equilibrium may come into being - one with much smaller bat populations - and a smaller fungal population.

Some have said this may be what has occurred in Europe. A genetically identical fungus has been isolated from several different sites in Europe. More tests are being done before it can be declared to be Geomyces destructans. Europe, however, has not seen large bat mortalities. In part, some speculate, that's because Europe does not have large bat colonies - no where near the huge colonies we see in American caves. Could WNS have wiped out large colonies in the past and Europe reached this new equilibrium? No one has found any record of such an occurrence yet. Also, with small bat colonies, it's possible that bats do die of WNS but simply aren't noticed. If a bat or two or three in a colony of 30 or 50 goes missing, but the rest remain, what can we tell? At this point, we know that bats with something that looks like WNS have been documented in Germany as far back as 1983.

One other biological point: many of the scientists are persuaded that this fungus is "introduced." That is, it has not grown up in the environment with the bats. The progress of the disease is consistent with that concept, but many others are waiting for the results of the sediment sampling that we all did this past winter. If the fungus is not found anywhere other than where WNS has been documented, then we've pretty much supported the "introduced" concept.

If, on the other hand, the sampling shows Geomyces destructans to be widespread already in the environment, then the WNS investigation will have to go back to ground zero. That's why that research was so critical, and why we are extremely grateful for the funding and field support many within the NSS gave to the effort. It is key to understanding WNS.

With that key question outstanding - and the answer should be known by early fall, the majority of WNS investigators are moving forward with the belief that they should not let the possibility of some other cause or causes get in the way of tangible action on the most plausible cause.

So, I thought I'd share what I've been seeing, hearing, and learning over the past few months with the various meetings, webinars, conferences, etc. I hope what I've written is understandable. I also hope it helps set a context for what we may be hearing over the next months and year concerning management strategies and research and funding priorities.

I hope to see many of you at our WNS session at the ICS/NSS convention. It's Thursday afternoon, from 2:00 - 5:40 PM. We're planning an extensive presentation on the evolution of WNS, the current status of research, where it may be headed, and what collectively we may be able to do about it.

[BrianC]

Peter! You have given some good info here! Thank you!

[ahicks51]

Peter: Very informative, thank you.

A couple of questions.

1) If captive breeding becomes a necessity, do all of the affected species require a cold dormancy, or can they survive without hibernation? This is to say, if the fungus is dormant at higher temperatures, is it possible to maintain populations of the animals above that critical temperature?

2) Has anyone fulfilled Koch's postulates with the fungus, i.e.: exposed susceptible species to the fungus from pure culture to see if they develop the disease?

[PYoungbaer]

1) If captive breeding becomes a necessity, do all of the affected species require a cold dormancy, or can they survive without hibernation? This is to say, if the fungus is dormant at higher temperatures, is it possible to maintain populations of the animals above that critical temperature?

I don't know. All the affected species to date are hibernators, so I would expect that they need to do that in order to survive. Re: elevated temperatures, 20 degrees C (68 F) show no growth of the fungus, after increasingly faster rates from 3C to 14 C. But that doesn't kill the hyphae. When returned to lower temperatures, growth resumes.

Hazel Barton also showed exposure at 110F actually increased spore germination. So, if the spores can't be destroyed until exposed to much higher temperatures (see the most recent USFWS decontamination chart for detailed temperature information), these higher temperatures probably kill the bats, too.

The one model I've seen for Virginia long eared bats assumes hibernation.

2) Has anyone fulfilled Koch's postulates with the fungus, i.e.: exposed susceptible species to the fungus from pure culture to see if they develop the disease?

Short answer, no, but maybe not necessary. I've listened to several conversations where this was batted around. Koch's Postulates (check Wikipedia for a quick and dirty) have been satisfied for #s 1,2, and 4. Number 3 may not be - at least not without a very lengthy experiment, possible lasting two-three years. If, as it seems to appear, the fungus has a lengthy latency period, healthy animals exposed may not show any outward signs for quite some time. If a good histopathological diagnostic tool could be developed (they are working on one), then perhaps the infection could be detected earlier. Note that (at least according to Wikipedia) Postulate 3 only says "should."

[wyandottecaver]

I have never kept captive held bats so I am only speculating. But biologically it should be possible to maintain bats outside hibernation. Whether we should might be a different question. Hibernation is ultimately an evolved response to environmental factors. There are several examples of hibernators like bears and chipmunks skipping hibernation in response to environmental conditions. In the wild this means less food and greater predation. In a captive facility it shouldn't matter...besides needing more bugs.... Getting later generations to resume hibernation if released will depend on how strong that internal mechanisim for hibernating is.

[PYoungbaer]

Arrests at Mt. Aeolus Bat Cave:

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090710/NEWS02/907100365/1003

No bat stickers found