A search for Geomyces destructans, a dangerous pathogen of bats, in caves of Eastern Europe

In 2006, a pandemic of previously unknown fungal disease suddenly broke out in caves of North America, affecting bats during winter hibernation. Between 2006 and 2012, six million bats of ten species died, and the infection was spreading from the east coast of the United States into the continent for several hundred kilometers per year. The mass mortality of bats from this disease and the high rate of its spread attracted close attention from researchers. In 2009, the causative agent of this disease, named White Nose Syndrome (WNS), was identified as Geomyces destructans Blehert et Gargas, a fungal species previously unknown to science whose mycelium grows into the surface body tissues of hibernating bats.