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The Disease &
the Fungus
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease that affects hibernating bats and is caused by a fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or Pd for short. Sometimes Pd looks like a white fuzz on bats’ faces, which is how the disease got its name. Pd grows in cold, dark and damp places. It attacks the bare skin of bats while they’re hibernating in a relatively inactive state. As it grows, Pd causes changes in bats that make them become active more than usual and burn up fat they need to survive the winter. Bats with white-nose syndrome may do strange things like fly outside in the daytime in the winter.
The Disease
Where Did White-nose Syndrome Come From?
Biologists first saw bats sick and dying from white-nose syndrome in 2007 in caves near Albany, New York. However, cave explorers in that area had taken a photo of bats with a white powder on their noses the year before, so white-nose syndrome has been in North America at least since 2006.
Pd was unknown to science until it was found on North American bats. After that, researchers began looking for it elsewhere and found it on bats in Europe and Asia, where bats do not appear to get as sick from the fungus as they do in North America.
We don't know how Pd got here or where it’s from. Pd spores can last a long time on surfaces such as clothes, shoes and outdoor gear, so even though people do not get white-nose syndrome, we can unknowingly move the fungus from one place to another – the most likely way that Pd found its way to North America.
No matter how it got here, white-nose syndrome continues to spread rapidly across the United States and Canada, mostly through bat-to-bat contact. Pd can also live in areas without bats, so bats can pick up the fungus from the environment, too. Go to the latest spread map to see where white-nose syndrome has been confirmed.​​​
How Deadly is White-nose Syndrome for Bats?
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America. At some sites, 90 to 100 percent of bats have died. Several species are affected, with the hardest-hit being the northern long-eared bat, little brown bat, and tricolored bat. Other species, like the Virginia big-eared bat, have been found with Pd, but they don’t show signs of being sick with white-nose syndrome.
There is no cure for white-nose syndrome, but scientists from all over the world are working together to study the disease, how it spreads and infects bats and what we can do to control it. Several experimental treatments, including a vaccine and making changes to bat habitats, are in progress and will hopefully lead to increased survival of bats from this devastating disease.
The Fungus
How Does the Fungus Cause White-nose Syndrome?
White-nose syndrome got its name from the fungus itself, which sometimes looks like white fuzz on the nose and other hairless parts of bats, including wings. The fungus, officially named Pseudogymnoascus destructans or Pd for short, thrives in cold, damp places where bats hibernate for the winter. Pd attacks and grows on bats while they’re in an inactive state of hibernation. This damages the skin so much that bats warm up and become active, wasting energy they need to make it through the winter. These behaviors and symptoms are what is known as white-nose syndrome in bats.
Sometimes you can’t see the fungus on bats that have Pd. In such cases, biologists can detect it on live bats by wiping the bat with a swab or taking a small tissue sample and bringing it back to the lab for analysis.
Does the Fungus Make All Bats Sick?
Not all bats that have Pd on them become sick. Several species, in fact, have been found with Pd but have not been affected. For those that do get sick, scientists confirm white-nose syndrome by looking at skin under a microscope. Bats with white-nose syndrome have small pockets in their skin caused by Pd infection. No other animals or humans have been known to get white-nose syndrome.
How Does the Fungus Spread
Pd doesn’t need a bat to grow, so it can live in a hibernation area even when bats are gone. Biologists think Pd is mostly spread by bats touching other bats or surfaces that have Pd on them.
Because Pd spores can last a long time on clothes, shoes and equipment, you can also spread Pd if you go to a place where the fungus is and then to a place without it. Guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting clothes and gear are in place for those who often visit caves and other places where bats hibernate.
Where Does the Fungus Come From?
Pd was unknown to science until it was identified in 2008 (Gargas et al. 2009). It was initially named Geomyces destructans, but reclassified as Pseudogymnoascus destructans in 2013 (Minnis and Lindner 2013). Once Pd was discovered in North America, researchers began looking for it on other continents. They found it in Europe and Asia, where they believe it had been for a long time and where bats don’t seem to get as sick from the fungus. The strain of Pd that made it to North American is believed to have come from somewhere in Europe.
