How to translate text using browser tools
25 July 2022 White-Nose Syndrome Pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans Detected in Migratory Tree-Roosting Bats
Caitlin J. Campbell, David M. Nelson, J. Edward Gates, H. Lisle Gibbs, Elizabeth R. Stevenson, Becky Johnson, Juliet Nagel, Regina Trott, Jamin G. Wieringa, Hannah B. Vander Zanden
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging fungal epizootic disease that has caused large-scale mortality in several species of North American bats. The fungus that causes WNS, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), has also been detected in bat species without diagnostic signs of WNS. Although these species could play a role in WNS spread, understanding of the spatial and temporal extents of Pd occurrence on WNS-resistant species is limited. This study evaluated the presence of Pd on 272 individuals of three species of migratory tree-roosting bats: hoary (Lasiurus cinereus), eastern red (Lasiurus borealis), and silver-haired (Lasionycteris noctivagans) bats, obtained opportunistically during summer and autumn from throughout much of their ranges in North America. We also compared tissue sampling protocols (i.e., tissue swabbing, fur swabbing, and DNA extraction of excised wing tissue). We detected Pd on three eastern red bats from Illinois and Ohio, US, one silver-haired bat from West Virginia, US, and one hoary bat from New York, US, all via DNA extracted from wing tissue of carcasses. These results document the first publicly reported detections of Pd on a hoary bat and on migratory bats during the autumn migratory period, and demonstrate the potential for using carcasses salvaged at wind-energy facilities to monitor for Pd.

© Wildlife Disease Association 2022
Caitlin J. Campbell, David M. Nelson, J. Edward Gates, H. Lisle Gibbs, Elizabeth R. Stevenson, Becky Johnson, Juliet Nagel, Regina Trott, Jamin G. Wieringa, and Hannah B. Vander Zanden "White-Nose Syndrome Pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans Detected in Migratory Tree-Roosting Bats," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 58(3), 652-657, (25 July 2022). https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-21-00160
Received: 12 October 2021; Accepted: 25 January 2022; Published: 25 July 2022
KEYWORDS
carcass
emerging infectious disease
Lasionycteris noctivagans
Lasiurus borealis
Lasiurus cinereus
Pseudogymnoascus destructans
surveillance
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top