NEW ORLEANS—A fungus that has killed millions of bats nationwide has been found in Louisiana, but no bats in the state have been sickened by it so far.
The disease it causes is called white-nose syndrome because bats develop fuzzy white patches of fungus on their noses, wings, and other hairless areas. The disease also dehydrates bats and wakes them from winter hibernation, using energy that they can’t replace because the insects they eat aren’t flying around. The syndrome has killed so many northern long-eared bats that federal officials recently proposed listing them as endangered.
