TheTransmission
It is thought that the introduction of P. destructans into North America possibly occurred accidently by gear or clothing contaminated with conidia brought from Europe to America.
Although the relevance of anthropogenic fungal spread is unclear, the fast spread of the fungus over thousands of kilometres from the epicentre leaves an open question on whether, for example, contaminated caving gear might have contributed (Turner et al. 2011). But the bats themselves can undoubtedly serve as vectors for distributing the fungus. They transfer the fungus not only via bat-to-bat contact (Lorch et al. 2011) but also by contaminating formerly P. destructans-free hibernacula, where viable fungus can be found in environmental samples even after bats were absent from a hibernaculum for 1-2 years (Lorch et al. 2013b). By entering these contaminated caves, unaffected bats can get infected through contact with the fungal spores. During the swarming period in autumn, bats meet in large congregations in front of potential hibernacula for mating, and while they move in and out of the caves, they are likely to sweep up conidia and carry them to the next cave (Turner et al. 2011). As fungal spores are easily transferred from one location to another, strict decontamination measures have been implied for any entry in North American cavernous hibernacula (US Fish and Wildlife Service April 2016b).13.7
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