MDC

MDC monitoring new bat disease in Missouri

In mid-April 2010, the Missouri Department of Conservation confirmed Missouri’s first signs of a new disease in bats that scientists have named “White-Nose Syndrome." The name describes a white fungus, Geomyces destructans, typically found on the faces and wings of infected bats. 

The WNS fungus appears to spread mainly through bat-to-bat contact and has not been found to infect humans or other animals.

It thrives in the cool, damp conditions found in many caves, which are also ideal hibernation and roosting sites for many bat species.

White-nose syndrome was first discovered in a cave in New York state in 2006. MDC scientists have been tracking the westward progression of the disease since its discovery. Laboratory tests recently confirmed the presence of the WNS fungus on a bat found in a cave in Pike County.

The disease causes infected bats to awaken more often during their winter hibernation and fly outside in search of insects to eat. This activity uses up stored fat reserves needed to get them through the winter, and they usually freeze or starve to death.

According to Bat Conservation International, a leading authority on bat conservation, education and research, WNS has killed more than a million bats in 11 states and Canada.

The MDC has a WNS action plan in place that focuses on MDC lands. The Department is working with other state and federal agencies, conservation groups and private cave owners, including owners of Missouri show caves, to develop a Missouri-wide WNS action plan to address the threat of WNS to the state’s valuable bat populations.

There are more than 6,300 caves in Missouri with 74 percent of them privately owned. More than 500 are known to house bat colonies, but that number may be as high as 5,000.

Missouri is home to at least 12 species of bats. They are our front-line defense against many insect pests including some moths, certain beetles and mosquitoes. Insect pests can cause extensive forest and agricultural damage. Missouri’s 775,000 gray bats alone eat more than 223 billion bugs a year, or about 540 tons.

Bat Conservation International information states that the more than one million bats killed by WNS would have consumed just under 700,000 tons of insects each year. That equals the weight of about 175,000 elephants.

Bats are long-lived but slow-reproducing animals with most species having an average lifespan

White-Nose Syndrome Action Plan

Review MDC's White-Nose Syndrome Action Plan, published April, 2010.