This is perhaps not in disagreement with you, icave, since you did say that you think we should be studying how to get rid of the fungus. But to elaborate on the reason for that:
We'll get results way faster if multiple studies are performed in parallel. Since there is presently no other candidate for the infectious agent besides the Geomyces fungus, it makes sense to study how to kill/eliminate that fungus from caving gear, even as we are waiting for confirmation (in the form of formal publication of Blehert's study--see
cavergirl's post about this).
icave, you're right that we shouldn't be confident in our decontamination protocols until we know that the fungus is the infectious agent. That would be one of many reasons not to be confident in them. Other reasons would include the that:
(1) there is no completed study testing them (or any other procedures) on actual materials that people actually bring into caves,
(2) many if not all decontamination procedures consistent with them might be dangerous to load-bearing textiles (and there are no conclusive studies to show otherwise...except
perhaps for 70% isopropyl alcoho--isopropyl alcohol is endorsed by the NFPA to speed drying of nylon and polyester ropes--but which would probably be prohibitively expensive for most cavers or organizations to use to wash all load-bearing textile items), and
(3) the people who drafted the FWS protocols don't actually know what they mean themselves--Jeremy Coleman (at the New York Field Office) has diligently consulted with the other co-originators of those protocols and explained to me that due to extensive outside consultation, none of them can answer the question as to whether or not woolite or ivory snow qualify as "conventional detergents." (If that question could be answered in the affirmative for either, then a re-usable manufacturer-approved decontamination procedure for decontaminating load-bearing textiles, consistent with the FWS decontamination protocols, would exist. Of course, just because it would be consistent with the FWS protocols still doesn't mean it would actually work...)