{"id":118367,"date":"2025-09-04T03:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118367\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T03:52:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:52:07","slug":"deadly-disease-found-in-bats-at-washingtons-san-juan-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118367\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadly disease found in bats at Washington’s San Juan National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. \u2013 Officials with the U.s.<\/a> Geological Survey (USGS) are raising the alarm after a shocking discovery inside a Washington<\/a> state national park on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Lab tests conducted by the USGS detected the presence of a fungus that causes what is known as White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) in three bats at San Juan Island National Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WNS is a fungal disease that can kill hibernating bats, according to the National Park Service. The fungus named Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) likely originated in Asia or Europe<\/a>, with the first positive case detected in Washington back in 2016.<\/p>\n

Most notably, this disease has been responsible for killing millions of bats across the country since it was first observed in the U.S. in New York<\/a> in 2006.<\/p>\n

Since then, the disease has spread through most U.S. states and Canadian<\/a> provinces. Luckily, the disease doesn\u2019t cause any harm to humans, but it can still spread.<\/p>\n

To help protect bats, park biologists suggest reporting any dead or injured bats<\/a> you may find to park personnel.<\/p>\n

Watch: Hundreds Of Glowing Gator Eyes Leer At Scientists In Georgia Swamp<\/a><\/p>\n

“Never touch or pick up a bat,” the NPS said in a statement. “Although WNS does not cause illness in humans, a small percentage of bats can be infected with other dangerous diseases, such as rabies.”<\/p>\n

\"OAKLAND,<\/p>\n

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 16: A fruit bat hangs from a rope during a behind the scenes interactive live stream from the Oakland Zoo on April 16, 2020 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

This is especially important because the park is home to 10 out of 14 known species in the state of Washington. A Pd infection would raise concerns as bats play a vital role in a healthy ecosystem<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For extra precaution, be sure to decontaminate gear and clothing worn after visiting a cave or bat habitat to reduce the chances of spreading the Pd fungus.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Deadly disease found in bats at Washington’s San Juan National Park<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. \u2013 Officials with the U.s. Geological Survey (USGS) are raising the alarm after a shocking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[24086,49,48,65915,65913,84,13718,65912,65914,3642],"class_list":["post-118367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-bats","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fungal-disease","tag-geological-survey","tag-health","tag-national-park-service","tag-san-juan-island-national-park","tag-usgs","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}