When bats in northeastern America began dying off in alarming numbers a few years ago, wildlife ecologists were perplexed. They named the disease white-nose syndrome, but until now authorities had no idea what caused the fatal ailment.
Researchers in Wisconsin have discovered the culprit is a fungus that?s common in Europe but wasn?t seen in the United States until five years ago. Now that the cause has been determined, officials can turn their attention to stopping the spread of the disease.