Bats are dying in the Northeastern United States at a rate never seen before and the leading culprit is a fungus called Geomyces destructans – a brand new fungus also never seen before.
By February 2009, the white-nose bat-killing syndrome in the Northeastern U. S. has expanded beyond New York, Vermont and Massachusetts to five more Northeastern states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Scientists are afraid mortality could reach near 100% in cave-dwelling bats and spread into Midwest.
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