Over the past ten years, the environmental and veterinary communities have sounded alarms over. an insidious keratinophilous fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that has decimated populations of bats (yes, bats, Chiropterans) throughout North America, and most recently, Northern China and Siberia. We as dermatologists may find this invasive keratinophilous fungus of particular interest, as its method of destruction is disruption of the homeostatic mechanism of the bat wing integument. Although it is unlikely that this pathogen will become an infectious threat to humans, its environmental impact will likely affect us all, especially as recent data has shown upregulation of naturally occurring coronaviruses in coinfected bats. Dermatologists are familiar with keratinophilous dermatophyte infections, but these rarely cause serious morbidity in individual patients and never cause crisis on a population basis. This manuscript describes the effects of P destructans on both the individual and the population basis. Bringing white-nose syndrome to the attention of human dermatologists and skin scientists may invite transfer of expertise in understanding the disease, its pathophysiology, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention.
White-nose syndrome: a novel dermatomycosis of biologic interest and epidemiologic consequence()