First confirmation of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in British bats and hibernacula

Abstract

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fatal fungal infection of bats in North America caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans. P. destructans has been confirmed in Continental Europe but not associated with mass mortality. Its presence in Great Britain was unknown. Opportunistic sampling of bats in GB began during the winter of 2009. Any dead bats or samples from live bats with visible fungal growths were submitted to the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency for culture. Active surveillance by targeted environmental sampling of hibernacula was carried out during the winter of 2012/2013. Six hibernacula were selected by their proximity to Continental Europe. Five samples, a combination of surface swabs or sediment samples, were collected. These were sent to the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics, Northern Arizona University, for P. destructans PCR. Forty-eight incidents were investigated between March 2009 and July 2013. They consisted of 46 bat carcases and 31 other samples. A suspected P. destructans isolate was cultured from a live Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii) sampled in February 2013. This isolate was confirmed by the Mycology Reference Laboratory, Bristol (Public Health England), as P. destructans. A variety of fungi were isolated from the rest but all were considered to be saprophytic or incidental. P. destructans was also confirmed by the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics in five of the six sites surveyed.

Hibernation temperature-dependentPseudogymnoascus destructansinfection intensity in Palearctic bats

“…We hypothesize that the pattern will differ in the Nearctic, and invasiveness will remain high due to higher number of skin lesions in infected Nearctic bats. Low invasiveness predicted by our models in British Isles and Scandinavia corresponds well with the low levels of P. destructans infection data from bats from these regions [71]. Our model was restricted to MAST range from sampled sites, thus most of Western Europe was omitted from our predictions as it is warmer than the east.…”

“…Our model was restricted to MAST range from sampled sites, thus most of Western Europe was omitted from our predictions as it is warmer than the east. It would be most interesting and relevant to supplement the presented model with infection status data collected in a standardized and compatible way in countries with marginal environmental suitability for the fungus (Figure 4), and known to harbour the infection, such as France [72], Hungary [73] or Great Britain [71].…”

White-nose syndrome detected in bats over an extensive area of Russia

“…In light of current data, the last remaining biogeographic questions regarding WNS distribution in the Palearctic are its presence or absence in Japan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands or the Kamchatka Peninsula. Based on its presence in both Continental Europe and the British Isles [ 42 ], it is quite likely that P. destructans will be found in islands off the mainland of Far Eastern Asia. Furthermore, we were able to confirm histopathological symptoms of WNS (Fig.…”

Out of the dark abyss: white‐nose syndrome in bats

“…Surprisingly, it became evident that the fungus is endemic among hibernating bats and caves in at least 15 European countries (Puechmaille and others 2011, das Neves Paiva-Cardoso and others 2014, Barlow and others 2015, Pavlinic and others 2015), with single reports indicating a possible P destructans infection even dating back to the 1980s (Feldmann 1984). Today, 11 European bat species have been shown to carry the fungus (Zukal and others 2014), but so far there have been no associated mass mortalities.…”

“…The article by Barlow and others (2015), summarised on page 73 in this issue of Veterinary Record , in which P destructans was found in a British bat and five hibernacula, highlights the continuous need for further research, not only on the geographical distribution, prevalence and genetic relationship of P destructans isolates, but also on the fungus's pathogenic consequences for the infected bat on both sides of the Atlantic. Various factors of this disease complex, such as behavioural aspects or the pathological pattern of the infection, have been discovered and described in great detail.…”