Since it was identified in the United States in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats has become an important issue in the management of caves and bats at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA). The threat of its arrival has led to more intense monitoring of bat populations, increased studies, and interventions with both the visiting public and researchers. The timeline of MACA’s WNS response is shown in Table 1

Carson, Vickie

Gillespie, Joel

Thomas, Steven

Toomey, Rick

Trimboli, Shannon R.

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Western Kentucky UniversityTopSCHOLAR®Mammoth Cave Research Symposia 10th Research Symposium 2013Feb 14th, 2:50 PMWhite-nose Syndrome at Mammoth CaveNational Park: Actions Before and After ItsDetectionRick ToomeyMCICSL, Mammoth Cave National Park, Western Kentucky University, rick_toomey@nps.govSteven ThomasCumberland Piedmont Network, National Park ServiceJoel GillespieMammoth Cave National Park, National Park ServiceVickie CarsonMammoth Cave National Park, National Park ServiceShannon R. TrimboliWestern Kentucky University, shannon.trimboli@wku.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/mc_reserch_sympPart of the Animal Sciences Commons, Forest Sciences Commons, Geology Commons,Hydrology Commons, Other Earth Sciences Commons, and the Plant Sciences CommonsThis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mammoth Cave Research Symposia by anauthorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact todd.seguin@wku.edu.Recommended CitationRick Toomey, Steven Thomas, Joel Gillespie, Vickie Carson, and Shannon R. Trimboli, "White-nose Syndrome at Mammoth CaveNational Park: Actions Before and After Its Detection" (February 14, 2013). Mammoth Cave Research Symposia. Paper 13.http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/mc_reserch_symp/10th_Research_Symposium_2013/Research_Posters/13White-nose Syndrome at Mammoth Cave National Park: Actions Before and After Its DetectionRickard S. Toomey III1, Steven C. Thomas2, Joel Gillespie3, Vickie Carson3, Shannon R. Trimboli11 Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning, Mammoth Cave National Park, Western Kentucky University2 Cumberland Piedmont Network, National Park Service3 Mammoth Cave National Park, National Park ServiceAbstractSince it was identifi ed in the United States in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats has become an important issue in the management of caves and bats at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA). The threat of its arrival has led to more intense monitoring of bat populations, increased studies, and interventions with both the visiting public and researchers. The timeline of MACA’s WNS response is shown in Table 1.May 2009 Colonial bat roosts closed year-round (except approved WNS and bat research) Decontamination required of incoming gear for researchersJune 2009 Screening of incoming tour visitors and intervention (decontamination, disallowing items, etc).Feb-Jun 2010 Caves closed signs posted at entrances to 10 park colonial bat roostsAugust 2010 Decontamination required between and after cave trips for researchersJanuary 2011 Park releases WNS Response Plan (plan currently under revision)April 2011 Tours began post- visit decontamination with walk-over mats containing Lysol solution Sept 2012 Post tour walk-over mats changed to carpet due to restrictions on Lysol useJan 2013 WNS found at Long Cave in MACATable 1: MACA’s WNS response timeline.On January 4, 2013, at the entrance to Long Cave, Steve Thomas and Rick Toomey euthanized and collected a northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) that showed signs of WNS (white growth on ears, forearms, and wings) (Figure 1). The bat was submitted to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study where it tested positive for WNS via histopathology and PCR. Eleven other bats were found in the same area as the aff ected bat (six tri-colored bats, four big brown bats, and one gray bat), but none of them showed any signs of infections. Bats are regularly seen in this entrance area in the winter, so the presence of these bats is not indicative of unusual behavior.Long Cave is the park’s largest hibernaculum. At the 2011 count, it housed approximately 12,000 gray bats, approximately 1,000 Indiana bats, and a few little brown bats, tri-colored bats, and big brown bats. It is a 1.3-mile long cave that is separate from the Mammoth Cave system. It is about 4.5 miles from the Historic 206 Mammoth Cave National Park's 10th Research Symposium:  Celebrating the Diversity of Research in the Mammoth Cave RegionEntrance of Mammoth Cave and about 1.75 miles from the large gray bat hibernacula of Coach and James caves (which house approx. 300,000 gray bats). Gray bats and Indiana bats are federally endangered species.When WNS arrived in the northeast United States, agencies lacked signifi cant baseline data on healthy bat populations. Beginning in 2009, MACA increased surveillance and monitoring of its bat roosts (both hibernacula and summer roosts) to gather baseline data, detect the arrival of WNS, and to document potential population changes. This monitoring includes biennial hibernation counts, summer emergence counts, and summer acoustic mobile transects. Disease surveillance includes regular entrance checks of bat roosts, targeted winter visits to bat roosts to check for signs of WNS, and cave entrance acoustic monitoring.MACA’s 400,000 visitors a year provide both a great opportunity for education about bats/ WNS and a potential vector for bringing the fungus that causes the disease to the park. To reduce the potential for a visitor to introduce the fungus into the cave, park staff  have screened cave visitors since summer 2009. Screening methods include public announcements, pre-tour briefi ngs by guides, and printed posters in the Visitor Center. Visitors are asked if they have been in a cave since 2005. If so, they are asked about whether they are wearing or carrying things that have been in a cave. If they have things that have been in a cave, park staff  works with them to reduce the potential for bringing in fungal spores. Measures that can be taken include decontamination, bagging items, or disallowing items from the cave. Starting in April 2011, when WNS was fi rst identifi ed in Kentucky, MACA began requiring visitors to walk over a decontamination mat after taking walking tours of the cave. This measure was taken to reduce the possibility that MACA visitors could take the fungus away from the cave with them, even if it had not been detected in Mammoth Cave yet. Originally, six-foot-long walkover mats with a Lysol solution were used for decontamination. In September 2012, the park stopped using Lysol solution mats, because their use was deemed to be off -label use. From September 2012 through February 2013, the park has been using twelve-foot lengths of plastic Astroturf –like carpet to physically remove spores from the soles of shoes. The carpet is periodically decontaminated to kill spores that might accumulate on it. MACA is currently working with NPS, EPA, FWS, USDA-FS, and the PHS to identify a decontamination fl uid that can be used in the walk-over mats.All 400+ caves in Mammoth Cave National Park are closed to human access except via ranger-led tours, research permit, or special use permit. People entering caves under research and special use permits are required to decontaminate all gear using current approved national decontamination protocols. They are required to decontaminate gear before going into a park cave, between caves (if they are visiting multiple ones), and before entering any other cave.Figure 1: Northern long-eared bat from Long Cave that showed signs of WNS.Mammoth Cave National Park's 10th Research Symposium:  Celebrating the Diversity of Research in the Mammoth Cave Region207

White-nose Syndrome at Mammoth Cave National Park: Actions Before and After Its Detection

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White-nose Syndrome at Mammoth Cave National Park: Actions Before and After Its Detection

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