A New Hope in the Fight Against White-Nose Syndrome

ina Cheng, Ph.D., BCI’s Director of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) Research, collaborates with scientists, wildlife managers, and policy makers across North America to better understand WNS and develop tools to combat it. Among the most promising tools is a groundbreaking fungal vaccine developed by researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that has been shown to reduce disease severity and increase survival in vaccinated bats.

WNS is a disease caused by an invasive fungal pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Pd is believed to have been introduced to North America in the mid-2000s, likely from Eurasia, where it is endemic. There are a dozen bat species that have contracted WNS in North America, but three species have been particularly hard hit: the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), and northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis).

These species have suffered a greater than 90% decline on average where WNS has come through. In some cases, as with the northern long-eared bat, it’s near 100%. With the disease continuing to spread each year in western North America and south into Mexico, more species are being impacted by the disease. The fungus invades bats’ skin during winter, disrupting hibernation and causing bats to arouse more frequently. Advanced infections cause bats to rouse more frequently during hibernation, an energy-expensive process that causes bats to run out of fat reserves, and ultimately, perish. We have lost millions of bats to WNS. Without intervention, countless others will die as the disease continues to spread.

The Bat Fungal Disease Immunogen (BFDi) is a vaccine developed by USGS that elicits a protective immune response against Pd infection. In lab and field trials, the vaccine leads to reduced WNS disease severity and higher survival in infected bats. As the first vaccine ever developed for a fungal pathogen, BFDi is not just a big breakthrough for fighting WNS, but also for medical science.

The effort is now moving toward whole-colony vaccinations, particularly in regions where WNS is still invading. It is a race against time, but delivery of the BFDi vaccine has huge potential to slow the spread of WNS and stem mortality.

A great place to start to get involved in bat conservation is with BCI’s Bat Gardens and Bat Ambassadors programs. Financial donations are also critical. The main challenge in fighting WNS used to be finding a solution. Now, we finally have a solution but during a time when funding for conservation has become incredibly challenging.

What’s exciting is that we, as a community, can work together to make this happen and instead of seeing bats disappear in front of our eyes, we can secure their spot in the night sky.