1 / 13

David S. Blehert, PhD USGS – National Wildlife Health Center

White Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen?. David S. Blehert, PhD USGS – National Wildlife Health Center. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey. Download At : www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_ information/ white-nose_ syndrome/ index.jsp. What is White-Nose Syndrome?.

karis
Download Presentation

David S. Blehert, PhD USGS – National Wildlife Health Center

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. White Nose Syndrome: An Emerging Fungal Pathogen? David S. Blehert, PhDUSGS – National Wildlife Health Center U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey

  2. Download At: www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_ information/ white-nose_ syndrome/ index.jsp

  3. What is White-Nose Syndrome? Photo by J. Reichard, Boston University Photo by A. Hicks, NY DEC

  4. CHALLENGE: Identify the White Fungusand/or Other Pathogen(s) Photo by N. Heaslip, NY DEC

  5. Parasitology, Virology, and Bacteriology • Parasitology: Disease causing • parasites not found. • Virology: No known viral pathogens • identified. • Bacteriology: No consistent findings.

  6. Circumstantial Case from Direct Observation Fixed Bat Muzzle Skin NYS DOH Photo by D. Springer and M. Behr Direct Scraping from Bat NYS DOH Photo by M. Behr

  7. Circumstantial Case from Direct Observation Fixed Bat Muzzle Skin NYS DOH Photo by D. Springer and M. Behr Direct Scraping from Bat NYS DOH Photo by M. Behr NWHC Cold Isolate Photo by D. Blehert, NWHC

  8. Fungal Biology – Mycology • Requires cold for growth. • It cannot grow at room • temperature. • Common on sick bats. • Absent from healthy bats. • All isolates are identical. • Fungus is a new species • of Geomyces. Photo by A. Klein, NWHC

  9. Histopathology Photos by C. Meteyer, NWHC • Bat Wings – In addition to • flight, they are critical for: • Heat Dissipation • Water Control • Gas Exchange • Blood Pressure Regulation

  10. WNS: A European Connection? Hungary Switzerland Photo: Tamas Gorfol Netherlands Romania Photo: Szilard Bucs Photo: Anne Jifke-Haarsma

  11. Infection Trial • Torpid little brown bats housed in mesh enclosures in • refrigerators at 7C. • Three treatment groups – each in an individual refrigerator • in a dedicated isolation room within a shower-out BSL-3 • facility. • Each bat wears an iBBat archival temperature logger.

  12. Soil Sampling Project • Collect soil samples from approximately 100 caves in the • eastern US. • Screen samples for the WNS-associated fungus.

  13. Future Directions • Determine the origin of the WNS fungus. • Predict potential for future WNS spread. • Can WNS be contained? • Can WNS be controlled? Investigate • biological or chemical control strategies. • Continue to develop a better • understanding of the disease. • Identify bat survival strategies – Are • there resistant bats?

More Related