USGS' "universal precautions" memo - and a caver's response
Doug Viner
Cavers,
USGS’ bulletin of 22 Sep 2011 titled “universal precautions for the management of bat WNS” portends to summarize the spread of WNS but fails to even mention that bats are thought to be the primary vector for WNS spread.
· Fortunately, it seems to contain no direction to gov’t agencies.
· Unfortunately, this official memo may be widely circulated among the agencies, leading managers to take unwarranted &/or excessive action anyway.
So it may fall to cavers to help set the record straight. I’m thinking of overseers, superintendents, the director of USGS’ National Wildlife Health Center, etc.
1. The two-page bulletin is here: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/wildlife_health_bulletins/WHB_2011-05_UniversalPrecautions.pdf
2. Since it was posted to ProMED Mail, a product of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, Tabitha thought to post a reply to ProMED Mail: http://tinyurl.com/USGS-UPmemo-response. (The body of that response follows, emphasis added, but see the link for all the references, headers, etc.)
- doug viner
(Distribute as appropriate)
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Re: ProMED-mail White nose syndrome, bats - North America (06): USGS
report 20110924.2887
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This posting fails to mention that bats appear to be the primary
vector for spread of WNS [white nose syndrome], as evidenced by
WNS-associated mortalities in caves and mines that are inaccessible to
humans due to permanent gating. Caves that have not been visited by
humans, as recorded on electronic monitors, have become positive for
_Geomyces destructans_.
Large geographical jumps of WNS (such as from Europe to the US and
from New England to West Virginia) do strongly implicate humans as
fomites, but do not rule out the role of the bats themselves. To point
to human traffic within caves as a means of pathogen spread, while
omitting what many scientists, biologists, and responsible cavers
believe to be the primary means of spread, does not relay the full
scientific story and propagates misinformation by omission.
--
Tabitha Viner, DVM DACVP
Supervisory Veterinary Pathologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service
National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab
1490 E. Main St.
Ashland, OR 97520-1310
[Dr Viner makes a great observation. I appreciate my sharp eyed
readers and their time to make comments.
Sadly, the report makes no mention of bats being their own vector. The
report and Dr Viner's observations help to highlight how much we do
not know about this disease. - Mod.TG]
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