Canadian Researchers Receive Funding to Fight Deadly Bat Disease

In an attempt to rescue the Maritime bat population; a group of Canadian researchers will spend the summer studying a deadly bat disease commonly referred to as white-nose syndrome.

The Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre recently received $300,000 in funding from Environment Canada to be used to study the disease, which has threatened to eliminate many bat colonies along the Maritime region.

Lead researcher, Ted Leighton says that extensive study and the development of new information regarding white-nose syndrome is imperative. "This was the case with avian influenza, it was the case with West Nile Virus, with chronic wasting disease, and now this is the case with white nose syndrome,” he said.

In fact, according to zoologist Donald McAlpine, the situation with white-nose syndrome is so dire that bats could face extinction in the New Brunswick area within the year. He also adds that their research is being geared towards keeping the disease from progressing westward.

“The great concern of course right now is that as this disease works west it will reach B.C., which has a very diverse bat fauna,” he said.

Researchers say that bats are important to controlling the insect populations, and without them, more chemical methods will have to be introduced, which will ultimately have an impact on the overall cost of food.