The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey announced on March 31 that a little brown bat with white-nosed syndrome (WNS) was found in Washington state, the first record of the disease in western North America. The sick bat, with visible symptoms of a skin infection common in bats with WNS, was found on March 11 near North Bend, about 30 miles east of Seattle. The bat died two days later and the diagnosis of WNS was confirmed by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center a short time later.

"This finding in a far-western location is unfortunately indicative of the challenges we face with the unpredictability of WNS," said Suzette Kimball, director of the USGS. "This underscores the critical importance of our work to develop tools for early detection and rapid response to potentially devastating wildlife diseases."

WDFW will be conducting surveillance in the area to determine the extent of the disease and will manage response efforts.