Ultraviolet light and polyethylene glycol as environmental cleaning agents to reduce contamination of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in bat hibernacula.

ABSTRACT: Pathogens that persist in an environmental reservoir can drive host populations to extinction because host abundance does not limit pathogen survival or reproduction. Fungal pathogens are of particular conservation concern because many fungi are generalists that persist in the environment. One example is Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), which has caused severe declines in hibernating bat populations across North America. Treatment of environmental reservoirs could help reduce transmission of P. destructans, and thus, reduce bat population declines from WNS. We tested the efficacy of two environmental cleaning agents, ultraviolet-C radiation and polyethylene glycol, in three mines where P. destructans established an environmental reservoir and

SUBMITTER: Stulberg AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12843589 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature