Symptoms of WNS infection include a powdery growth on the nose, ears, and wing membranes. The fungus affects the skin of the bat causing necrosis in the wing and tail membranes, a likely painful experience for the bat.  Infected bats, experiencing a depletion of fat reserves, tend to awake earlier from hibernation and often emerge from caves prematurely.  These bats will typically die from exposure or starvation¹ due to elevated metabolism and an inability to fight infection.

Transmission occurs via direct contact from bat to bat, or from environmental reservoirs (ex, cave) to bat². This fungus is able to live in the soil in the absence of bats³.

 

¹Lilley et al. 2016
²Foley et al 2011
³Lorch et al. 2013, Linder et al. 2010