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John Lovaas wrote:Phew! Feel much better now- thanks, Peter.
I understand Ann is a nice person, and I know folks who know her, but I have to say this- absent any narrative, that slide is a spectacularly poor and potentially deceptive visual representation of quantitative data.
The line from New York to Oklahoma represents something real- DNA of Geomyces destructans found in both locations. The line from OK to WA? Doesn't mean anything, as there is no Gd in WA, or any other state located north, south, or west of OK. The OK-WA line has the same weight and color as the NY-OK line, so from a design standpoint, it infers the identical meaning. The title doesn't help a bit either- "Apparent Spread of Geomyces destructans". Only one line segment meets that criteria.
Feel free to call me petty for criticizing it, but I'll wager $100 that the slide will be misused in an agency or organization's presentation sometime in the next 12 months.
Pippin wrote:Was there any indication that federal agencies realize that total cave closures don't work?
DeanWiseman wrote:I'm still wondering why the suspected WNS cases in Missouri and Oklahoma have never changed, despite several (many) months in the "suspected" category.
-Dean
DeanWiseman wrote:I'm still wondering why the suspected WNS cases in Missouri and Oklahoma have never changed, despite several (many) months in the "suspected" category.
-Dean
PYoungbaer wrote:I've yet to see or hear any evidence of any possible human vector for Oklahoma, so the presence of G.d. on that one bat remains a mystery.
TNCaver writes: "It's not a mystery at all. One possibly infected bat flew to Oklahoma from some other location. A recently posted map shows bat habitatation areas overlap almost the entire US."
It's important to note that this year's Oklahoma surveys turned up no evidence of G.d. or WNS.
Anyway, I believe Ann's intent was to show that if it only took five years to spread from NY to OK, then being cautious in the West is prudent.
John Lovaas wrote:DeanWiseman wrote:I'm still wondering why the suspected WNS cases in Missouri and Oklahoma have never changed, despite several (many) months in the "suspected" category.
-Dean
Dean-
Here's the definition from the USGS website:
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_inform ... itions.jsp
"...Suspect WNS:
To identify a bat as suspect for WNS, one of the following must be true:
- Field signs are suggestive of WNS AND
- A bat is PCR positive meaning that DNA from G. destructans is present although the viability of the organism is unknown. Field signs are not required. No histopathology was performed or is negative. WNS was previously confirmed in the county or in an adjacent county. Further diagnostics (PCR, culture, fungal tape and histopathology) were either not performed or are negative.
- A bat is culture positive meaning there is viable G. destructans present. Field signs are not required. No histopathology was performed or is negative.
- Fungal tape strip of bat fur or skin is positive for G. destructans-like conidia. Visible fungus is required. No histopathology was performed or is negative.
Confirmed positive for WNS:
- Confirmed positive bats are those that fulfill histopathologic criteria for the disease. These criteria require the identification of a specific pattern of fungal colonization in the epidermis which may extend to invasion of the dermis and connective tissue. Histopathology can also support the presence/identity of G. destructans if distinctive conidia are observed. Field signs, PCR, fungal tape strip, and culture can be negative for bats that fulfill the histopathologic criteria for confirmed WNS. Follow-up PCR/DNA sequencing or fungal culture should be considered to confirm the identity of the organism in geographic regions with no prior or unknown history of WNS..."
The short answer would be that the OK and MO bats did not fulfill histopathologic criteria for the disease.
The OK bat was destroyed/flushed down the toilet/disappeared/sent to the 8th Dimension(however one chooses to characterize it) by the USGS lab during testing, and no longer exists- so no further testing could be done on that bat.
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