White-nose disease causative agent Pseudogymnoascus destructans present in Romania and Moldova
Abstract
While the presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (the causative agent of whitenose disease) is widely known in European locations, no detailed study has been carried out in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. In the period of 2014-2018, we sampled 21 locations (caves and mine galleries) in the two countries. These are important hibernacula and maternity sites for several bat species, mostly for Myotis myotis and M. blythii. Analyses identified seven sites positive for P. destructans, six in Romania and one in the Republic of Moldova, with no associated mass mortality, as is generally the case in Europe. Highest prevalence of positive samples comes from the Leșului cave (68% out of 16 samples), which is consistent with the cave’s complex structure and movement of individuals during arousal periods in winter. All positive samples from bats come from M. myotis, with one exception, a M. blythii specimen from the Republic of Moldova. Given the limited number of samples and sites analysed, the detection of P. destructans in at least seven sites suggests that the fungus is rather common in several parts of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
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BibTeX
@article{bucs2026whitenose,
title = {{White-nose disease causative agent Pseudogymnoascus destructans present in Romania and Moldova}},
author = {Szilárd-Lehel Bücs and Csaba Jére and István Csősz and Irina Pocora and Viorel Pocora and Alexandra-Elena Telea and Dragoș Bălășoiu and Victoria Nistreanu and Vladislav Caldari and Alina Larion and Nicola M. Fischer and Sébastien Puechmaille},
journal = {JOURNAL OF BAT RESEARCH \& CONSERVATION},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.14709/barbj.16.1.2023.04},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05783400v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - White-nose disease causative agent Pseudogymnoascus destructans present in Romania and Moldova
AU - Szilárd-Lehel Bücs
AU - Csaba Jére
AU - István Csősz
AU - Irina Pocora
AU - Viorel Pocora
AU - Alexandra-Elena Telea
AU - Dragoș Bălășoiu
AU - Victoria Nistreanu
AU - Vladislav Caldari
AU - Alina Larion
AU - Nicola M. Fischer
AU - Sébastien Puechmaille
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - JOURNAL OF BAT RESEARCH & CONSERVATION
DO - 10.14709/barbj.16.1.2023.04
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05783400v1
AB - While the presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (the causative agent of whitenose disease) is widely known in European locations, no detailed study has been carried out in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. In the period of 2014-2018, we sampled 21 locations (caves and mine galleries) in the two countries. These are important hibernacula and maternity sites for several bat species, mostly for Myotis myotis and M. blythii. Analyses identified seven sites positive for P. destructans, six in Romania and one in the Republic of Moldova, with no associated mass mortality, as is generally the case in Europe. Highest prevalence of positive samples comes from the Leșului cave (68% out of 16 samples), which is consistent with the cave’s complex structure and movement of individuals during arousal periods in winter. All positive samples from bats come from M. myotis, with one exception, a M. blythii specimen from the Republic of Moldova. Given the limited number of samples and sites analysed, the detection of P. destructans in at least seven sites suggests that the fungus is rather common in several parts of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
SN - 3045-6126
ER -