White Nose Syndrome
 
A major problem for both bats and the caving community

The fact that you found this Web site indicates that you are already aware of the "White Nose Syndrome" (WNS) that is apparently involved in a massive die-off of bats in several caves in upstate New York in the last two winters.  There has been a lot of frenzied discussion about WNS in the popular press and on various caving e-mail lists.  This site is an attempt to provide factual information and/or links to sources of information about WNS.

The site does not provide links to newspaper or magazine articles, or to unmoderated Internet discussions about WNS.  The goal is to link to primary sources in the government, academic, or scientific communities where WNS is being studied.  Information contained in e-mail messages will not be quoted unless the sender is actively working on WNS in a significant way.

Anyone who knows of sources of accurate WNS information that should be added to the site should send the URL to me.  (Don't send the text).  Material may be sent to Bob Hoke at bob@rhoke.net.  Also, please let Hoke know about any errors in the page.

This site is hosted on the Web page run by the DC Grotto of the NSS.  Although you may have clicked on "www.white-nose.info" to get here, any pages will carry a DC Grotto address (www.caves.org/grotto/dcg).
Photo of bats with White Nose Syndrome
The arrows point to unusual white noses in a cluster of bats in a New York cave last winter.  The white is apparently caused by a fungus and may be related to an unusual number of bat deaths.  Read below for more information.
CLICK THE PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE.  (Photo by Nancy Heaslip)

Note: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is maintaining a Web site with significant WNS information. That site is at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.  The site is updated fairly frequently and is worth a perodic check.

May 4, 2008: Responding to a query from Peter Youngbaer about the possible affects from spraying for West Nile Virus, Carl Herzog (State Wildlife Grants Biologist, NY Department of Environmental Conservation) responded that spraying may be related to WNS, but that there are reasons why this may not be the case.  See Herzog' response here.

May 1, 2008: Several newspaper articles incorrectly reported that WNS was suspected in a West Virginia cave.  The WVDNR and USFWS sent a message to cavers clarifying what was actually found.  Read the message here.

April 22, 2008: National Public Radio had an 25-minute discussion of WNS on April 18.  It featured Tom Kunz from Boston University and Elizabeth Buckles from Cornell. They talk in some detail about the various  research paths that have been followed and results to date, plus where things  are headed in terms of next research steps.  This is the most detailed interview with scientists to date and is factual, not dramatic.  The program is at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89764381. (Thanks to Peter Youngbaer for this information).

April 8, 2008: The USF&WS map showing WNS locations has been updated to show three counties in southern Pennsylvania where small amounts of white fungus has recently been found on bats.  There was no associated mortality and no lowered physical conditions as noted in bats which are affected by White Nose Syndrome.  The map is here and more information is on the www.batmanagement.com blog site here (scroll down to find the relevant post).  (Thanks to David Riggs for this information).

April 2, 2008: An updated version of Al Hicks' PowerPoint presentation on WNS has been released to the public.  The file contains 51 "slides".  The original file is too large (97 Mbytes) to put on this site, but a PDF version of the file (8.6 Mbytes) is available here.

April 1, 2008: Paul Rubin provided two graphics he produced to document the first known appearance of WNS in the northeast, pre-dating WNS occurrences in Hailes, Schoharie, Knox, and Gage Caverns.  The photos were taken by him in the non-commercial section of Howe Caverns (NY). Click for figure-1 or figure-2 to see the graphics (both are 2+ Mbyte PDF files).

March 31, 2008: The USF&WS WNS Web site (http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html) contains some new information:
  1. A map showing where WNS has been found.  Click here to see the map.  The map was created by Cal Butchkoski, Pennsylvania Game Commission. 
  2. Revised procedures for decontaminating cave clothing and gear.  Click here to see the new procedure.

March 28, 2008: The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection announced that WNS was found in an unnamed cave in northern Litchfield County in Connecticut.  This is the first occurrence of WNS in the state. Click here to view the press release.  (Thanks to Ed Saugstad and David Riggs for this information).

March 4, 2008: ProMED-mail is a program to disseminate information about emerging diseases.  Their Web site had a general notice about WNS a few weeks ago, but with little detail.  Now they have a more detailed report from the US Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center describing their research results. Click here to view the report on the ProMED-mail Web site. (Thanks to Tabitha Viner and Roxanne Shively for the ProMED-mail link).

March 3, 2008:  Two reports about Pennsylvania bat counts were received.  No WNS was encountered.  Click here to read the reports.

March 3, 2008: A plea for information and openness.  This site was created on February 11 to provide links to factual information about WNS for the caving community, but the new information on it has been minimal.  Please click here to read about this problem.

March 1, 2008: Al Hicks indirectly provided a report on a recent bat count in Hailes Cave (NY).  The team counted 1,200 bats this year compared to 6,735 in 2006, and 15,584 in 2005.  Read the report here.

March 3, 2008: The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources issued a press release release describing WNS and its potential threat to West Virginia's bats.  There is no significant new information in the realease.  It is at  http://www.wvdnr.gov/2008news/08news032.shtm.

March 1, 2008: A summary of Al Hicks' presentation at the Northeastern Bat Working Group/Southeastern Bat Diversity Network (NEBWG/SBDN) meeting, held in Blacksburg, Virginia, on  Feburary 20-22, 2008, has been posted at 
http://www.necaveconservancy.org/wns_news.php#FW_message (scroll to the bottom of the page for the summary).  Also, according to a forum on the Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. website (go to http://www.batmanagement.com, click the "Forums" tab, then select the News Froum), the Powerpoint file from Hicks' presentation will be posted soon.  The link will be posted here as soon as it is available.  (Thanks to Ron Miller for this information).

February 28, 2008: The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have issued their much-awaited list of West Virginia caves that cavers should avoid and a "NOTICE TO CAVERS" about WNS.  The entire text of  both documents is available at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/pdf/WNS-WVDNR notice to cavers022908.pdf as a PDF file.  The Virginia Region's Limited Access Cave list at www.VAR-caves.us is being updated to include the requested cave closures.

February 25, 2008: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has posted updated decontamination procedures for cavers in New England and surrounding areas.  The site is http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.  Unfortunately, there is no date on the site to indicate when it is being updated.  (It is the same site referenced on February 12 below, but the decontamination procedures have been updated recently).

February 21, 2008: Thom Engel found a posting to the nature.com blog site that includes a comment by a Estonian bat researcher who said he observed a fungus on Estonian bats in the 1970s.  The blog site is http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/01/white_nose_syndrome_threatens.html and the text of the comment is on this site here.

February 19, 2008: The WNS situation is causing a number of cave closures in West Virginia as well as in New England.  The Virginia Region of the NSS maintains a Limited Access Cave list with the latest list of VAR caves with access restrictions, including WNS closures.  The list is at http://www.VAR-caves.us.  (The WW DNR is going to publish a list of bat caves that they are requesting be closed.  That list will be published here as soon as it's available).

February 15, 2008: Peter Youngbaer and others went to Mt. Aeolus Bat Cave in Vermont on February 14.  They found WNS present, a number of dead bats, and bats in unusual locations in the cave.  Peter's report is available here.

February 14, 2008: Bob Hoke asked Craig Stihler (WV DNR) about the many rumors going around regarding closure of West Virginia caves.  Stihler said that the list of caves that the DNR is requesting be closed is still being developed, but that it will probably be about 40 caves.   The text of his message is available here.

February 14, 2008:  Al Hicks' November, 2007, poster describing the WNS situation in New York is now available.  The poster is designed for 36"x48" paper so it is difficult to fit on normal paper.  Click here for a PDF version (1.3 MB) or here for the original Powerpoint file (5.5 MB).  (You can print the poster on letter paper with Adobe Reader by selecting the "Fit to printable area" option in the "Page Handling" part of the print dialog.  The text is very small, but still readable).

February 13, 2008:  Steve Stokowski found the abstract of a poster presentation about WNS that was presented at a bat conference in Mexico in August, 2007.  The paper is titled "Unusual Winter Mortality events at four New York hibernacula during 2007"  by Alan Hicks and several others.  The text of the abstract can be viewed here.  An  updated version of the poster is available (see the February 14 entry above).

February 12, 2008: The Northeastern Cave Conservancy posted a press release officially closing all caves it owns until at least May 15, 2008.  It also asks cavers to avoid visiting any caves harboring bats until at least May 15.  The voluntary caving restriction is apparently for northeastern caves, but that isn't explicitly stated.  It also notes that the NSS has closed all caves it owns in the northeast.  Finally, the release asks that anyone who has visited any of several New York caves since January 1, 2007, fill out an on-line questionnaire telling what other caves they have visited since then.  The press release is at  http://www.necaveconservancy.org/files/press_release/NCCWNSmediarelease.pdf.

February 12,  2008: The Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife has an undated Web page describing WNS.  It is similar to the February 1 page noted below .  The page is at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.

February 6, 2008: Alan Hicks (Mammal Specialist in the Endangered Species Unit of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) sent an e-mail message to unknown recipients saying that more New York caves were infected or highly suspicious.  He also said "we are one survey short of saying that every substantial collection of wintering bats in the state is infected."  (The message was forwarded to Bob Hoke and the original recipient list was not included.  The text of the message can be viewed here).

February 4, 2008: Region 3 (the upper Midwest) of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service updated a Web page describing WNS at  http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/mammals/inba/BatAilment.html .  This site is similar to the February 1 USF&WS page noted below.

February 4, 2008: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection posted a press release about WNS.  It contains no new information.  The release is at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2008/08_0008.htm.

February 1, 2008: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service posted a Web page describing WNS and providing detailed instructions for cavers on what to do if they encounter WNS or multiple dead bats.  Detailed decontamination procedures are also described.  The page is at http://www.fws.gov/midwest/Endangered/mammals/inba/BatAilment.html.  [The decontamination procedures on this site have been updated since February 12.  Check the site for the latest information].

January 30, 2008: The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department posted a press release describing the WNS problem in Vermont and says that the disease has been found in Morris Cave in Danby [VT].  The release said "last year, some 8,000 to 11,000 bats died at several locations in New York, the largest die-off of bats due to disease documented in North America."  The release says State Wildlife Biologist Scott Darling is asking all outdoor recreationists to avoid entering caves or mines.  The link to the release is  http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Detail.cfm?Agency__ID=1273.  

January 30, 2008: A press release by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation describes the WNS situation, but provides little scientific detail about what is known.  The release is at http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/41621.html

January 12, 2008:  Craig Stihler (Head of the Endangered Species Program in the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources) sent an e-mail message to several caving e-mail lists in Virginia and West Virginia (through another caver).   He described the WNS problem and asked cavers to keep an eye open for white noses when they are caving.   There was no additional information about WNS in the message, but he did request that cavers clean their gear .  Click here to read the text of the message.

 December, 2007: The Winter 2007-08 issue of The Region Record (published by the Virginia Region of the NSS) contained an article by Alan Hicks (Mammal Specialist in the Endangered Species Unit of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) describing WNS.  The article included the photo at the top of this page.  Click here to read the text of the article.

This page last updated or verified on May 4, 2008