Efficacy of a probiotic bacterium to treat bats affected by the disease white-nose syndrome

The management of infectious diseases is an important conservation concern for a growing number of wildlife species. However, effective disease control in wildlife is challenging because feasible management options are often lacking. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an infectious disease of hibernating bats that currently threatens several North American species with extinction. Currently, no effective treatments exist for WNS. We conducted a laboratory experiment to test the efficacy of treatment with Pseudomonas fluorescens, a bacterium that naturally occurs on bats, to reduce disease severity and improve survival of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) exposed to Pseudogymnoacus destructans, the fungal pathogen that causes WNS. Application of the bacteria at the time of P. destructans infection reduced several measures of disease severity and increased survival, whereas bacterial treatment prior to pathogen exposure had no effect on survival and worsened disease severity. Our results sug...