Bat Disease confirmed in SC

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recently received confirmation that white-nose syndrome, a disease that has killed millions of bats in eastern North America, is now officially in South Carolina. A dead bat discovered on Feb. 21 at Table Rock State Park in northern Pickens County has been confirmed to have white-nose syndrome, which spreads mainly through bat-to-bat contact and has not been found to infect humans or other animals. Table Rock’s bat colony is in a remote portion of the park not accessible to the public, and the discovery of the white-nose syndrome bat is not a threat to park visitors’ health and safety and will not have any negative effects upon their visits to Table Rock State Park. Estimates of bat mortality from white-nose syndrome in North America range from 5.7-6.7 million bats since the new pathogen was first discovered in 2007. With the addition of South Carolina, white-nose syndrome has now been confirmed in 21 states and 5 Canadian provinces.