By Zach Howard BUCKLAND, Mass (Reuters) - White nose syndrome, a
devastating disease that has killed more than one million bats
in the Northeast, has been found in Maine, the last New England
state to discover it, wildlife officials said on Tuesday.
Diminishing populations of bats, an important predator of
insects, could have harmful consequences for humans, experts
say. Bats at two sites in Maine's Oxford County that displayed
signs of a fungal pathogen linked with white nose syndrome
tested positive for the disease, said scientists with the Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Until this year,
Maine appeared insulated from white nose, although nearby states
and Canada were not. Since its discovery in an upstate New York
cave in 2006, white nose has been confirmed in 17 states and
four eastern Canadian provinces, and it appears to be steadily
trekking westward. North America's loss of bats, a key predator
of mosquitoes, beetles and pests that can harm plants, could
cost agriculture at least $3.