Possible treatment for bats suffering from white nose fungus

I'm from NY so I have taken a interest in the decimation of the bat population in these parts. Most of us have heard about the threat to their populations, talk has been that the bat populations could see wide spread extinction. Here is a little background on it.

In 2007, approximately 8,000 to 11,000 bats died in several New York caves, more than half of the wintering bat population in those caves. Cavers first noticed large numbers of dead bats around the mouth of one cave and reported it to wildlife officials in February 2006. Many of the dead bats had a white ring of fungus around their nose. Most affected hibernating bats in the region have white fungal growth on their ears, wings or nose. This condition is called White-nose Syndrome (WNS) and is associated with high bat mortality in the northeastern United States.

orginization for bat conservation

Well it looks like a little headway has been made.

They tested six strains of the novel fungus against drugs already used to treat people and animals such as cats and dogs for ailments ranging from athlete’s foot to life-threatening infections. “We found that two major classes of antifungal drugs have very good activity” against the bat germ, Chaturvedi reported Sunday in Boston at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. The drugs include fluconazole, the most widely used antifungal drug, which is sold as Diflucan by Pfizer Inc. and in generic form. Four other drugs also seem highly effective, Chaturvedi said. [AP]

Discover magazine

Now the problems remaining are how to distribute the drugs without compromising the surrounding ecosystem and hoping that the treatment doesn't have a negative effect on the bats themselves! I would like to hear some ideas from ATS on how to do that.

reply to post by hangedman13


Great news indeed!

How to treat bats with fungus on their noses? Wow, that is a tough one. I cannot imagine someone going through the cave with Q-Tips and a gallon of the medication and applying it one by one. That sounds like a committee solution.

Maybe some kind of spray or mist applied to the cave during occupation by the bats.

I sure hope it works.

reply to post by ABNARTY


Thanks for the reply! I would hope they would directly apply it, since the affects on other organisms that share the habitat is potentially dangerous. I am just hoping they don't trade one problem for another. Still it is a start.