Origins of the ‘vampire fungus’ that causes white-nose syndrome in bats

Fisher, Matthew C.

doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01449-6

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28 May 2025

Origins of the ‘vampire fungus’ that causes white-nose syndrome in bats

An emerging fungal infection is endangering bats in America. DNA analysis reveals that the infection first arose in Europe, mediated by two fungal culprits.

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Matthew C. Fisher ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1862-6402⁰

Matthew C. Fisher
1. Matthew C. Fisher is in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London W12 0BZ, UK.
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When a deadly disease begins to spread in an animal population, identifying the cause and origins of the illness might help to curb infection. Writing in Nature, Fischer et al.¹ provide surprising insights into the source of a fungus that can kill bats.

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Nature 642, 869-870 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01449-6

References

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The author declares no competing interests.

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[1] Fischer. N. M. et al. Nature 642, 1034–1040 (2025).
Article Google Scholar

[2] Blehert, D. S. et al. Science 323, 227 (2009).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[3] Frick, W. F. et al. Science 329, 679–682 (2010).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[4] Frank, E. G. Science 385, eadg0344 (2024).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[5] Gargas, A., Trest, M. T., Christensen, M., Volk, T. J. & Blehert, D. S. Mycotaxon 108, 147–154 (2009).
Article Google Scholar

[6] Palmer, J. M., Drees, K. P., Foster, J. T. & Lindner, D. L. Nature Commun. 9, 35 (2018).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[7] Drees, K. P. et al. mBio 8, e01941-17 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[8] Leopardi, S., Blake, D. & Puechmaille, S. J. Curr. Biol 25, R217–R219 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[9] O’Hanlon, S. J. et al. Science 360, 621–627 (2018).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[10] Martel, A. et al. Science 346, 630–631 (2014).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[11] Farrer, R. A. et al. Nature Commun. 8, 14742 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[12] US Fish and Wildlife Service. Report No. 81 FR 1534 (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2016).

[13] Rocke, T. E. et al. Sci. Rep. 9, 6788 (2019).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

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