WNS Confirmed in South Carolina

[David Riggs]

South Carolina, surrounded by WNS positive states, becomes the 21st US
state confirmed. It appears that a single dead Tri-Colored Bat was
discovered at Table Rock State Park, Pickens County, SC and confirmed
via histopathology.

- DR


See: http://dnr.sc.gov/news/yr2013/march14/march14_batwns.html


The S.C. Department of Natural Resources recently received
confirmation that white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed
millions of bats in eastern North American, is now officially in South
Carolina.

Until now, South Carolina appeared to be insulated from white-nose
syndrome (WNS). However, a dead bat discovered recently at Table Rock
State Park in northern Pickens County has been confirmed to have WNS,
which spreads mainly through bat-to-bat contact and has not been found
to infect humans or other animals.

"We have been expecting WNS in South Carolina," said Mary Bunch,
wildlife biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
based in Clemson. "We have watched the roll call of states and
counties and Canadian provinces grow each year since the first bat
deaths were noted in New York in 2007." Estimates of bat mortality
from WNS in North America range from 5.7-6.7 million bats since the
new pathogen was first discovered.

Table Rock State Park staff informed Bunch about what appeared to be a
dead bat and asked whether it should undergo WNS testing. Bunch was
doing routine WNS monitoring in the area and collected the bat, a
tri-colored bat. The bat was collected on Feb. 21, transported on ice,
and submitted to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study
in Athens, Ga. The Wildlife Disease Study confirmed the presence of
Geomyces destructans fungus, which causes WNS.

Table Rock's bat colony is in a remote portion of the park not
accessible to the public, and the discovery of the white-nose syndrome
bat is not a threat to park visitors’ health and safety and will not
have any negative effects upon their visits to Table Rock State Park.

With the addition of South Carolina, WNS has now been confirmed in 21
states and five Canadian provinces.




--
David A. Riggs
Myotisoft, LLC
463 Oak Street
Morgantown, WV 26505
http://www.myotisoft.com
dri...@myotisoft.com
(304) 685-7537