UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, BATS - USA: (ARIZONA)
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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: 28 Dec 2010
Source: Arizona Daily Star
Bat die-off here a mystery
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Almost 70 bats were found dead Monday morning along an east-side
walking path -- a mystery that has Arizona Game and Fish officials
searching for answers. One possibility: unseasonably warm Tucson,
Arizona, temperatures.
"The whole situation is somewhat of a mystery in part because the bats
are Mexican free-tailed and should have been long gone by now," said
Mark Hart, a spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department. "They
should have migrated to Mexico 2 months ago. What they were doing
there was unclear. Temperatures have been a little warmer. They may
have overstayed their visit."
Early Monday [27 Dec 2010] morning, a local resident was walking his
border collie [dog] along the path that runs under a bridge on East
Speedway where the road crosses the Pantano Wash when he discovered
dozens of bat carcasses strewn across the walking path. "I hike and
bike a lot and go under a lot of bridges, and I've never seen anything
like it," the resident said.
Of the bats found on the ground, 7 were alive. All of the dead bats
and 3 live ones were sent to the Arizona Department of Health Services
laboratory in Phoenix for rabies testing. 4 remaining live bats were
sent to a U.S. Geological Survey laboratory, where they will be tested
for white-nose syndrome, a fungal infection 1st documented in upstate
New York in 2006. The syndrome has killed millions of bats in the East
and has spread as far west as Oklahoma. The infection does not affect
humans, Hart said.
Investigators could find no evidence of foul play in the death of the
bats. Game and Fish officials used metal detectors to look for spent
ammunition, but they found no sign that the bats had been shot. It's
unlikely that the bats were sickened by chemical perhaps used in
surfacing or de-icing the bridge, Hart said. And the chances are
equally remote that almost 70 bats would simultaneously die of rabies.
The more likely hypothesis is that the bats died from the cold after
failing to migrate south to Central America and Mexico for the winter.
Hart said bats are still roosting under the bridge, and he has a
warning for recreationists who may find one of the mammals on the
ground:
"Don't handle or come near a bat that appears to be either dead or
injured," he said. "That would hold true of a lot of different species
of wildlife, but especially bats, because they do carry rabies."
About the species
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Mexican free-tailed bats (_Tadarida brasiliensis_) like the ones found
under the Pantano Wash bridge, are found in the western United States,
south through Mexico, Central America and into northern South America.
They are medium-size bats, weighing between 0.4 and 0.5 ounces, with a
wingspan between 12 and 14 inches. Their fur is reddish to dark brown
or gray in color. They have broad, black, forward-pointing ears and
wrinkled lips. Their tails extend more than a third beyond the tail
membranes; most other bats have tails that are completely enclosed
within the tail membranes. Their wings are long and narrow.
Mexican free-tailed bats prefer to roost in caves but will also
inhabit attics, bridges and abandoned buildings. They choose roosts
near water because it attracts the insects they eat. Females produce a
single baby each summer, and all of the babies roost in a "nursery" of
sorts, in the highest and warmest reaches of the cave or other roost
site.
[Byline: Kimberly Matas
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[Free-tailed bat is so named because it possesses a tail free and
protruding beyond the uropatagium (hind membrane). The Mexican Free
Tail bat is also known (perhaps more correctly) as the Brazilian Free
Tail bat.
Photos may be found at:
Let's hope that some of the bat bodies were sent to a diagnostic
laboratory for a necropsy and perhaps some testing. - Mod.TG]
[The interactive HealthMap/ProMED map for Arizona is available at:
....................sb/tg/ejp/jw
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