UV light may help rid bats of white-nose syndrome - Entrepreneur Generations

A brown bat suffering from white-nose
syndrome. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service photo)

A new study found that low doses of ultraviolet light could one day be used to rescue North American bat species that have been decimated by white-nose syndrome. The syndrome is caused by a cold weather-loving fungus that infects hibernating bats, causing them to use twice as much energy as normal to maintain bodily functions, which makes them burn through body fat and die of starvation. It can also kill infected bats when they become so uncomfortable from the disease that they wake up and wander outside into the cold before succumbing to the elements.

"Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of New Hampshire have discovered that UV light kills the fungus that is responsible for the precipitous declines over the last decade of many bat species in 33 states" and two Canadian provinces, Don Hopey reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The cure would be a boon to the agriculture industry, since bats help with pollination and seed dispersal, as well as insect control. "According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bats eat enough insects to save U.S. corn growers more than $1 billion a year in crop damage, and all farmers more than $3 billion," Hopey reports.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2m95zgG UV light may help rid bats of white-nose syndrome - Entrepreneur Generations

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