(I posted this at ecogeneratin.org on 8/10

Even though this is an old posting, it seems the exact cause and cure for this syndrome have still yet to be discovered)

According to a scientific study out last week, one of the United States's most common bats could be completely wiped out in New England within 16 years unless something is done to save it from the frightening bat disease white-nose syndrome.

The study ran 1,000 computer simulations of bat populations stricken by white-nose syndrome, finding a whopping 99 percent chance that the little brown bat will disappear from the Northeast unless death rates significantly slow.

The regional extinction of little brown bats, which have the amazing ability to eat their own weight in insects every night, would have a devastating effect on the Northeast's cave and forest ecosystems -- and would not bode well for bats across the country.

Nine species are currently known to be affected by the fungus, which has killed more than a million bats and spread to 14 states in just four years.