A new fungal infection is killing Quebec’s bats at a fearsome rate and could lead to the disappearance of entire colonies and species in the province if its spread is not checked

White-nose syndrome attacks bats as they hibernate and induces activity that wastes vital energy reserves needed to get them through the winter. The disease gets its name from the white fungus identified as geomyces destructans that grows around the muzzles of infected bats. First detected in Quebec three years ago, white-nose syndrome has now decimated bat colonies around the province and is estimated to have killed 5.7 million bats in eastern North America. There is no known cure for the fungal infection. “It’s one of the fastest declines for a species,” says Anouk Simard, a biologist with Quebec’s Environment Ministry. “In three years a very common species that we never worry about is now so low that it might disappear. It’s very serious.”

Source: Huff Post, 12/31/13
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12/31/quebec-bats-fungus-white-nose_n…