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A disease that has heavily impacted bat populations in eastern states has been found in Missouri. KSMU’s Michele Skalicky has more…
Biologists in Missouri thought they had at least another year before white nose syndrome was found on a bat in the state. But laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the fungus on a bat in a privately-owned cave in Pike County in northeast Missouri.According to Bill Elliott, cave biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, the fungal infection gets on a bat’s face, ears and wings and deeply invades the skin tissues.Infected bats awaken more often during their winter hibernation and use up stored fat reserves. They either starve to death or freeze…
"Sometimes the bats are found kind of pathetically flying around at the entrance to the cave or even going outside in midwinter with snow on the ground trying to find bugs to eat, and it's pretty sad, you know."
Biologists aren’t completely sure how it spreads, but it appears to spread mainly thru bat-to-bat contact and has not been found to infect humans or other animals.So far white nose syndrome has infected six bat species in the U.S. that hibernate in caves and mines, including the endangered Indiana Bat. All are found in Missouri.Elliott says the finding of one infected bat in the state is a very early warning for biologists working to protect Missouri’s bats against the disease.No treatment has been found. Elliott says caves can be closed so bats have quiet time to recover from the infection since some DO survive. And disinfecting caving gear so WNS spores aren’t carried into caves can also help…
"Right now there's nothing else we can do except inform the public and try to get everybody's cooperation."
MDC has been working for several months on an action plan to protect bats against white nose syndrome. Elliott says they’ll begin closing bat caves on MDC lands to the public soon. He says the Mark Twain National Forest closed its caves a year ago to everything except certain research activities that require a permit.But three-quarters of Missouri’s caves are on private land. According to Elliott, the Department of Conservation will work with landowners interested in helping to protect bats on their property…
"We would recommend, if someone asked us, that disinfection be required before going in bat caves and that people only generally go in late spring to early fall and pretty much stay out of the bat caves from early October to mid April when the bats are hibernating."
Landowners can contact him at bill.elliott.mdc.mo.gov.Elliott says the loss of bats would mean a lot more pests for humans to deal with…
"If we lose a lot of our bats, and that's a distinct possibility, we're gonna see less mosquito control by bats; we're gonna see possibly more pests on row crops and on forests."
He says it’s hard to predict how heavy the impact will be in the state, but there are millions of bats in Missouri that eat thousands of insects every night in the warmer months…
"Their contribution to our ecology and even our economy is probably pretty significant."
According to Elliott, research from other states isn’t encouraging for Missouri. In the 11 states (all in the eastern US) affected before Missouri, a total of 1 to 2 million bats have died in just 3 years.Research is ongoing into medical treatments for white nose syndrome and into ways to stop the spread of the disease.Elliott says the public can help by supporting those research efforts.For KSMU News, I’m Michele Skalicky.
