Canada well within reach of bats carrying white-nose syndrome

“Nobody has seen anything like this, that's the scary part.”

- The body count left behind by an illness decimating bat colonies in the U.S. northeast continues to rise, sparking fears among wildlife officials it could spread along the critters' summer migration routes.

Experts on both sides of the border say Canada is well within reach of bats from infected populations.

The mysterious disease American biologists call white-nose syndrome tore through caves and mines this winter in several U.S. states, killing tens of thousands of bats.

White-nose syndrome drains the bats' fat reserves, often leaving behind skinny corpses with a flour-like dusting of fungus on the snout, wings or ears. Biologists don't know how it is transmitted or if humans can contract the illness. Read more