- "A recent survey shows that, out of 3,000 bats living
in a Litchfield County, Ct. cave three years ago, only seven are still
alive"
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- Hello Jeff - This is terrible, only 7 bats left
from 3,000 bats. We now have WNS halfway across the US in northeast Missouri.
It won't be long now.
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- I think we could see White Nose Syndrome reach the Pacific
within 2 years, 3 at the most.
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- Patty
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- Bat Mystery Continues
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- By Andrew Larson
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- The Republican-American
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- The population of bats in the Northeast is dwindling
because of an aggressive fungal disease, wildlife officials say, prompting
fears that the animals are headed for extinction.
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- A recent survey shows that, out of 3,000 bats living
in a Litchfield County cave three years ago, only seven are still alive,
the state Department of Environmental Protection said Tuesday.
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- A mysterious, fast-spreading disease called white-nose
syndrome is to blame for their demise.
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- "What we know is that the fungus is at the center
of what is happening to these bats," said Jenny Dickson, supervising
biologist for the state DEP. "This is the key to the decline of the
bat population, which is something we did not know a year ago."
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- Bats are essential to the ecosystem because they eat
insects such as mosquitoes, beetles and moths, acting as a natural pesticide,
Dickson said. Bats are capable of eating about one-third of their body
weight in insects each night. The diminished bat population may lead to
increased use of chemical pesticides, she added.
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- White-nose syndrome, which causes fungus to grow on the
faces and wings of nearly all species of bats, was first seen in 2006.
What began as an isolated problem in a New York cave has spread rapidly
to Canada and as far south as Tennessee, near the North Carolina border.
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- It's unclear whether the fungus, or its effects, is causing
the cave-dwelling animals to die. Either way, once the disease is contracted,
it's just about impossible for bats to survive.
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- "Usually once we see that happen, the prognosis
for those individuals is not good," Dickson said.
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- To read the complete story see Wednesday's Republican-American
or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com.
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- What do you think? Share your comments using the form
below.
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- http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/478702.txt
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- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at:http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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