White-nose syndrome, a deadly fungal infection that has devastated bat populations in New York and New England in the past two years, has now spread to three states on Maryland's borders - and seems poised to strike here next, biologists say.
"We are surrounded on all sides," said Aimee Haskew, a faculty research assistant at the University of Maryland's Appalachian Lab in Frostburg. "It's like a guillotine hanging above your neck."
An outbreak here could destroy one of the largest hibernating populations surviving in the East of the globally rare Eastern small-footed myotis and gradually wipe out larger bat populations that help to control Maryland's insect pests.
Surveys of 10 Maryland hibernation sites this winter found no signs of the disease. But after reports in recent months that it has struck in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, biologists fear that its appearance in this state is only a matter of time.
"I have to admit I was shocked. ... These were huge leaps," said Dan Feller, a western region biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "It may be some indication that the fungus has been spread, possibly, by cavers. ... We are well within bat range now, from sites in West Virginia and Pennsylvania."
As creepy as some people find them, bats play important roles in plant pollination, seed dissemination and pest control. One little brown bat can consume 1,000 mosquito-size bugs in an hour. Their appetite for pests spares U.S. farmers an estimated $1 billion a year in crop losses and insecticide costs.
White-nose syndrome first appeared in 2006, in a cave near Albany, N.Y. Hibernating bats were found with a white substance on their faces and wings. All were emaciated; many were dead.
Some were clustered near the cave entrances or flying nearby long before they should have left hibernation and before enough insects had emerged to sustain them.
Genetic analysis revealed the fungus to be an unknown member of the cold-loving Geomyces genus. A similar fungus has been seen on bats in Europe, but it has not killed them, Haskew said. It's possible the fungus was somehow transported into North America and began spreading among native bats that have no natural resistance.
The fungus is not known to affect humans, and scientists are only beginning to learn how it affects bats. Some suspect it is an irritant that causes them to awaken frequently during hibernation. A Bucknell University study found that infected bats were waking every two to three days. Disease-free bats rouse every 10 to 18 days.
