The threat of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) to America's agriculture industry is severe. While progress has been made in fighting the fungus-borne infection that has decimated bat populations across the country east of the Rockies, a new case of WNS has now appeared in Washington state.
This brings the threat nearer to America's largest bread basket, the California Central Valley, which is the world's fifth largest supplier of food and agriculture products. Insect-eating bats make an enormous contribution to pest-fighting efforts for America's farmers every year. When bat populations decline due to WNS-caused die-off, our country's agriculture industry is at risk.
We must halt the advance of this killer disease to preserve our national and global food stores.