WNS confirmed in Washington State

7 views

Skip to first unread message

Doug Viner

unread,

Mar 31, 2016, 5:11:08 PM3/31/16

to NSS Western Region, Oregon High Desert Grotto, SAG, wns-d...@googlegroups.com

Cr*p.

(WNS = White Nose Syndrome, of which I guarantee you’ll be hearing much more in the near future. Heretofore, WNS had been identified in places according to the map on this page https://caves.org/WNS/. I reckon that will soon be updated.)

- doug

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Hoke [mailto:bob...@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Robert Hoke
Sent: Thursday, 31 March, 2016 13:56
To: DC Grotto <dc-g...@googlegroups.com>; PSC e-mail list <psc-c...@googlegroups.com>; Baltimore Grotto list <balto...@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [DCG] WNS confirmed in Washington State

Folks,

Ed Saugstad just sent me a link to a USGS press release about WNS being confirmed in Washington State. The release is at

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article_pf.asp?ID=4496

This is certainly not good news for the west coast bats.

Bob Hoke

Doug Viner

unread,

Apr 4, 2016, 8:40:36 PM4/4/16

to DC Grotto, PSC e-mail list, Baltimore Grotto list, wns-d...@googlegroups.com

Ernie Coffman kindly forwarded the following message. It refers to the updated “cave advisory.” (The full title is “Recommendations for Managing Access to Subterranean Bat Roosts to Reduce the Impacts of White-Nose Syndrome In Bats.”) It can be found here https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/. It was issued shortly before the WNS-infected bat was found in Washington (state); however, informed rumor is that the advisory will only be updated to reflect:

· The new Lysol mix (a slight chemical alteration) and

· The updated decon temperature (a slight change from previous).

----- begin forwarded message -----

Here's the latest from [NSS’ WNS liaison] Peter Youngbaer on this monster:

//

Here's my take on the new caving advisory:

1. The prior advisory was issued in 2009, and was woefully out of date on several points.
2. The new advisory removes the caving moratorium called for in the original.
3. The new advisory recognizes that bat to bat transmission is the primary method of the spread of WNS.
4. This is a caving advisory, NOT the full breadth of the response to WNS. As such, it focuses on what cavers can do to help prevent the spread of the disease, and to help bats recover from or resist the disease: To wit:

a. avoid hibernating bats

b. don't take gear from a WNS region into a non-WNS area

This is about minimizing risk, that's all. One of the key objectives is stated as follows: Minimize the risk of human-assisted spread of Pd to decrease the probability of long-distance transfer of the fungus to uncontaminated areas. Key words "mimimize," "decrease," and "probability."

The advisory actually does recognize the re-use of gear in saturated zones, and I agree heartily with Luke Mazza, and I've stated it repeatedly here and in other forums, it doesn't really accomplish anything to decon in saturated zones or in WNS-free zones. It's good practice to clean one's gear anyway (promoting safety) and on the continuum, washing mud, etc. off of one's gear and clothing alone reduces the potential for carrying spores; the hot water (122 degrees F, 50C, for 20 minutes), non-chemicalized version kills anything remaining, to go the next step. It's not that onerous, and is required now on most public lands. Sure, for those caving on primarily private lands in the East, it's not required. I believe the USFWS recognized that it has little influence there, and the disease has already run over the region anyway.

It's important to state that the USFWS isn't just focusing on people, although a caving advisory naturally does. There has been years of research on treatments of the disease, including field trials of some potential cures. This research continues to progress, but science does take time.

One important note: with the discovery of the WNS bat in Washington, it's a good idea for cavers in that area (say a 200 mile radius) to decon. The National Wildlife Health Center Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin has determined that the bat is a genetic subspecies of the Little Brown that is indigenous to the Northwest - i.e. not a transplant. They are still testing the genetics of the fungus to determine if it's the same strain as in the East, or perhaps another - say the Asian strain. It will be important to follow the evolution of the details on the Washington situation as more becomes known.

Bottom line, I consider the new caving advisory a much-welcomed improvement over the 2009 moratorium, and far more practical.