Fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats detected in Oregon

White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that grows on hibernating bats, causing them to wake up in the winter. The bats then burn up their fat stores while searching for food and die as a result. The disease was first detected in the northeastern U.S. in 2006 and has since spread to 40 U.S. states.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently announced that the fungus that causes the disease has been detected in bat excrement, or guano, from a bat roost at Lewis and Clark National Historic Park in Clatsop County. While no bats in the state have been observed with symptoms of white-nose syndrome yet, it’s the first documented case of the fungus in Oregon.

Emily Armstrong Buck is a wildlife health lab biologist at ODFW and the agency’s white-nose syndrome surveillance coordinator. She joins us to talk about the spread of the disease and what it could mean for Oregon bat populations.

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