The fungus linked to a devastating decline in U.S. bat populations has spread to Oregon, with federal scientists reporting they have detected it for the first time in the Beaver State.
The fungus in guano collected from a bat roost at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park is the same that causes white-nose syndrome, which has killed millions of bats in North America since its first detection in New York nearly 20 years ago.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the disease has killed bats in at least 40 states. Half-a-dozen other states have detected the fungus but not yet found bats with the disease that has already drawn sustained scientific as well as congressional intention.
U.S. Geological Survey wildlife veterinarian M. Camille Hopkins and biologists Amy George and Rebecca McCaffery in August published a 32-page strategy to address white-nose syndrome and bat health through 2029.
