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Justo a tiempo para Halloween, tenemos noticias de murciélagos aterradores. Bueno, son noticias aterradoras para los murciélagos … y cualquiera que se preocupe por su bienestar.

Un hongo con un nombre espeluznante digno de un hechizo de Harry Potter - Pseudogymnoascus destructans - ha sido confirmado en al menos cinco condados de California, incluido Humboldt. Este hongo causa el síndrome de la nariz blanca, una condición potencialmente fatal, en una amplia variedad de especies de murciélagos.

El Outpost escribió por primera vez sobre la llegada del hongo a California hace cinco años, antes de que se identificara positivamente aquí en el condado de Humboldt. Aunque el hongo se ha propagado desde entonces, un profesor de biología local y experto en murciélagos con el que hablamos en ese momento, Joe Szewczak, dijo que el síndrome de la nariz blanca podría resultar menos destructivo aquí en la Costa Norte que en otras partes de América del Norte.

Este es un comunicado de prensa del Departamento de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de California:

El hongo que causa el síndrome de la nariz blanca en los murciélagos ha sido detectado en varios condados de California este año, aunque aún no se han observado murciélagos con signos visibles de la enfermedad en el estado.

El síndrome de la nariz blanca ha matado a millones de murciélagos en América del Norte y ha diezmado colonias enteras. Los murciélagos hibernantes como el murciélago patón, el murciélago Yuma y el murciélago de cueva son especialmente vulnerables. Aunque el síndrome de la nariz blanca a menudo es fatal para los murciélagos hibernantes, no infecta a humanos, mascotas, ganado ni a otras especies silvestres.

El síndrome de la nariz blanca se desarrolla cuando el hongo Pseudogymnoascus destructans invade las células de la piel de los murciélagos, lo que resulta en daños en las delicadas membranas de las alas. La infección suele aparecer como un pelo blanco en la cara de los murciélagos infectados, lo que le da al síndrome su nombre. Los murciélagos con síndrome de la nariz blanca a menudo terminan la hibernación de invierno temprano, cuando escasean los recursos de agua y presas de insectos, lo que hace que agoten sus reservas de grasa y se deshidraten. Como resultado, los murciélagos infectados a menudo perecen.

En 2023, el Departamento de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de California (CDFW) confirmó por primera vez la presencia definitiva del hongo en una colonia de murciélagos en el condado de Humboldt. En 2024, el hongo también fue confirmado presente en los condados de Sutter, Placer, Amador e Inyo. Los resultados de laboratorio inconclusos sugieren que el hongo también podría estar presente en los condados de Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Plumas, Alpine, San Diego y San Bernardino. Todavía se esperan resultados adicionales para varios otros condados alrededor del estado.

The fungus has been detected on several bat species in California, including the little brown myotis, Yuma myotis, long-legged myotis, big brown bat, Mexican free-tailed bat, and Western red bat.
This is the first time a Western red bat has been reported with presence of the fungus. The positive sample was returned from a female bat captured on May 9, 2024, in Sutter County. Both Western and Eastern red bats occur in California and can be difficult to differentiate, so CDFW used genetic sequencing to confirm this individual as Western red bat (Lasiurus frantzii, previously recognized as  L. blossevillii).

While white-nose syndrome has not yet been observed in any bat in California, the presence of the fungal pathogen suggests the disease could manifest in California’s bats within the next few years. Such progression has been observed in other states, as the fungus and disease have been spreading across North America since discovery in 2006. The fungus was first detected on the West Coast in 2016 when it was discovered on a bat in King County, Wash.

While the fungus is primarily spread from contact between bats, humans can unintentionally spread it as well. People can carry fungal spores on clothing, shoes or recreation equipment that has come into contact with the fungus at bat roosts. To learn more about limiting the spread of white-nose syndrome, see the National White-nose Syndrome Decontamination Protocol (updated March 2024).

Biologists with CDFW, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been sampling California’s bats for the presence of the fungus and clinical signs of white-nose syndrome since 2016 in support of national surveillance efforts led by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center. When bats at monitoring sites emerge from hibernation each spring, biologists swab their faces and wings to test for the fungus. Swabs are analyzed by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University.

Sustained efforts to monitor bat populations will be critical to understanding and managing this devastating disease. CDFW and its partners will continue conducting white-nose syndrome surveillance and bat population monitoring across the state to assess potential impacts of the disease and inform research and management actions. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leads the collaborative national response effort for white-nose syndrome through which scientists are continuing to develop and test innovative tools to manage the disease.

California is home to 25 species of bats. A single bat can eat thousands of insects each night. California’s bats keep insect populations in check, benefiting rural, suburban and urban communities as well as a wide variety of natural landscapes that range from forests to deserts to grasslands. The pest control services that bats provide also protect crops and benefit California’s agricultural economy – the largest in the nation. Across the country, bats contribute approximately $3.7 billion worth of insect pest control for farmers each year and their guano can be used as fertilizer to improve soil health. Robust bat populations are vital to a healthy environment and economy.

CDFW urges people to not handle wildlife, especially dead wildlife or individuals that appear sick. If you find sick or dead bats, or notice bats acting strangely, please report your sighting. Bats flying or roosting outside during the winter is an example of noteworthy behavior that can sometimes, but not always, be associated with white-nose syndrome.

You can help watch for white-nose syndrome in California by reporting bat sightings to CDFW: Report a Sick or Dead Bat Report a Bat Colony

For more information about white-nose syndrome, visit https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/.