page_title: White-nose syndrome
section_title: Geographical spread
hierarchical_section_title: White-nose syndrome / Research / Geographical spread
caption_attribution_description: English: A map showing the extent of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus causing widespread bat mortality in North America via white-nose syndrome. Affected states and provinces are shaded.
context_page_description: White-nose syndrome is an emerging disease in North American bats which has resulted in the dramatic decrease of the bat population in the United States and Canada, reportedly killing millions as of 2018. The condition is named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats. It was first identified from a February 2006 photo taken in a cave located in Schoharie County, New York. The syndrome has rapidly spread since then, however. In early 2018, it was identified in 33 U.S. states and seven Canadian provinces; plus the fungus, albeit sans syndrome, had been found in three additional states. Most cases are in the eastern half of both countries, but in March 2016, it was confirmed in a little brown bat in Washington state. In 2019, evidence of the fungus was detected in California for the first time, although no affected bats were found.
  The disease is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which colonizes the bat's skin. No obvious treatment or means of preventing transmission is known, and some species have declined >90% within five years of the disease reaching a site.
context_section_description: The disease was first reported in January 2007 in New York caves, although it was retrospectively detected in a photograph taken in early 2006. It spread to other New York caves and into Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut by 2008. In early 2009, it was confirmed in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and in March 2010, in Ontario Canada, Maryland, Middle Tennessee, Missouri,  and Quebec, Canada. In 2011, the syndrome was confirmed in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In the winter of 2011–2012, Alabama, Delaware and Arkansas confirmed the disease in bats and new cases showed up in northeastern Ohio, and Acadia National Park in Maine. Confirmed cases appeared in 2013 in Georgia, South Carolina, Illinois, and the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.  In March,  2014, WDNR and USGS staff conducting routine surveillance detected white-nose syndrome in a single mine in Grant County Wisconsin and the USGS National Wildlife Health Center later confirmed the disease. In April, 2014, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced that the disease had been found in Alpena County, Mackinac County, and Dickinson County. In May, 2014, after retesting, the Myotis velifer specimen from Oklahoma and other swabs and samples from the area tested negative, and Oklahoma and Myotis velifer were removed from the list of WNS suspects.
  As of April 2014, the syndrome had been confirmed in 25 states and 5 Canadian provinces. 
  The causative fungus has been confirmed in three additional states: Iowa, Minnesota, and Mississippi.
  A little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) was found in Washington state infected with white-nose syndrome in March 2016.  Researchers suspect through DNA analysis that the source of infection in this individual originated in the Eastern U.S.  This has been the westernmost case discovered in North America thus far.
  A second case of white-nose syndrome was detected in Washington in April 2017. The infected bat was a Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis), which was the first time the disease has been found in this species.
  In March 2017, the fungus was found on bats in six north Texas counties, bringing the number of states with the fungus to 33.  Three bat species tested positive.
  In April 2018, it was announced that bats in Kansas were documented with white-nose syndrome, making it the first time infected bats were found in Kansas.
  In May 2018, it was announced that bats in Manitoba were found to be infected with white-nose syndrome.
  In May 2019, the fungus was found in the home of the largest colony of bats in the world, Bracken Cave, near San Antonio, Texas.
caption: States and provinces affected by white-nose syndrome as of April 2018
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