Caption: A little brown bat showing symptoms of white-nose syndrome in Greeley Mine, Vermont (April, 2009)., Credit: (Marvin Moriarity/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Image by: (Marvin Moriarity/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) 
A little brown bat showing symptoms of white-nose syndrome in Greeley Mine, Vermont (April, 2009). 

White nose syndrome spreads west

From: Veronique LaCapra
Length: 03:34

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Bad news for the bat population, a disease that has killed more than five million bats in the eastern United States and Canada has now reached Missouri. White-nose syndrome has now been diagnosed in three Missouri bats, the first confirmed cases west of the Mississippi. And scientists say the spread won't stop there. Read the full description.
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White nose syndrome spreads west
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Veronique LaCapra

Bat_with_wns__fws__web_small Bad news for the bat population, a disease that has killed more than five million bats in the eastern United States and Canada has now reached Missouri. White-nose syndrome has now been diagnosed in three Missouri bats, the first confirmed cases west of the Mississippi. And scientists say the spread won't stop there.

White nose syndrome spreads west | 03:34

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Piece Description

Broadcast History

Aired April 5, 2012, on NPR's All Things Considered

Transcript

LACAPRA: Since white-nose syndrome was first discovered in bats near Albany, New York in early 2007, it has devastated bat populations in the eastern U.S. Tony Elliott, who's a scientist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, says he knew it was only a matter of time before the disease crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri.

TONY ELLIOTT: Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do to stop it.

LACAPRA: That's because white-nose syndrome is caused by a fungus that easily passes from bat to bat. The disease is named for the powdery white growth that can sometimes coat an infected bat's muzzle and wings. The fungus penetrates the bat's skin, eating away at the thin, semi-translucent membranes of its wings, tail, and ears. But, Elliott says, there's still a lot we don't know about the disease.

ELLIOTT: It is still a bit of a mystery exactly what the ultimate cause of death is....
Read the full transcript

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

Bad news for the bat population, a disease that has killed more than five million bats in the eastern United States and Canada has now reached Missouri. White-nose syndrome has now been diagnosed in three Missouri bats, the first confirmed cases west of the Mississippi.

As Veronique LaCapra of St. Louis Public Radio reports, scientists say the spread won't stop there.

OUTRO:

Additional Credits

Producer: Art Silverman (NPR ATC)

Related Website

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/05/150000682/white-nose-syndrome-a-scourge-in-the-bat-caves

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