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<oembed><version>1.0</version><provider_name>Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog</provider_name><provider_url>https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog</provider_url><author_name>Beyond Pesticides</author_name><author_url>https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/author/beyond-pesticides/</author_url><title>Bat Killing Fungus Spreads West - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog</title><type>rich</type><width>600</width><height>338</height><html>&lt;blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="SDt6n27rsU"&gt;&lt;a href="https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2013/02/bat-killing-fungus-spreads-west/"&gt;Bat Killing Fungus Spreads West&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2013/02/bat-killing-fungus-spreads-west/embed/#?secret=SDt6n27rsU" width="600" height="338" title="&#x201C;Bat Killing Fungus Spreads West&#x201D; &#x2014; Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog" data-secret="SDt6n27rsU" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
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</html><description>(Beyond Pesticides, February 15, 2013) Bats around the U.S. are being decimated by White Nose Syndrome (WNS). The deadly disease was detected recently at Kentucky&#x2019;s Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, according to the National Park Service. Based on laboratory testing, three bats were discovered with WNS, coming from three separate caves in the park. The cold-loving fungus thrives on hibernating bats, spreading in 2006 from a cave in New York State to 21 other states in the East and Midwest. In 19 of these states there have been confirmed cases of WNS, not including detections in four Canadian Provinces (see map). &#xA0;White nose syndrome is usually transmitted bat-to-bat, although the spore can also spread through human clothing, shoes or gear. The fungus causing WNS, Geomyces destructan, is extremely lethal to hibernating bats&#x2013;though posing no health threats to humans, pets, or other animals&#x2013; killing 90% of bats where the fungus had persisted for a year or more, totaling 5.8 million bat deaths since 2006. There are six species of cave-dwelling bats that are susceptible to WNS, including the endangered Indiana bat. There are also three species of tree-dwelling bats in the parks, but these are less at risk for contamination as [&hellip;]</description><thumbnail_url>https://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WNS_Status_Large20130128-300x231.jpg</thumbnail_url></oembed>
