The article demonstrating the presence of Geomyces destructans bats in a European (Myotis myotis) just published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Disease. The article is now available online before it is published in the February issue of 2010.
The article discusses three possible scenarios :
1-The fungus just arrived in Europe and therefore put at risk species of European bats. This implies that conservation measures are in place to limit the spread of the fungus.
2-The fungus is present in Europe long. Since no mass mortality comparable to that observed in the United States has been postponed in European bats, they may be immune to the fungus.
3-The fungus is not the agent causing the death of bats but plays only a role of opportunistic bats already infected with other agents such as viruses or bacteria.
Some data presented in more detail in Article favor scenarios 2 and 3. However, a comparison of pathogens in bats European and U.S. infected with the fungus is necessary to clearly define the most likely scenario.
For more details, please refer directly to the article available here.
Seb.
Tags : Conservation, France, hibernation, Muzzle White syndrome, White-nose-syndrome, WNS
The article is now published and the final version can be downloaded to the following URL : http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/2/pdfs/290.pdf
Seb.