The bat population in the United States is facing a serious threat of extinction due to an outbreak of a deadly fungus called Deomyces destructans. The fungus is nicknamed white-nose syndrome, named after the white fungus that typically appears on the noses and wings of infected bats. Other signs and symptoms of white nose syndrome include white fungus on the ears and tail, bats flying during the day in midwinter, bats clustered near the entrance to a hibernation or cave, and general abnormal behavior for a bat in hibernation. Scientifically the fungus has been identified as Deomyces destructans. The fungus itself causes damage to connective tissues, muscles and skin. It can also disrupt many of their physiological processes. Typically during the hibernation period, bats wake up on average every 10-20 days. An infected bat, on the other hand, wakes up every three to four days, burning its fat reserves twice as fast. When they wake up they are both dehydrated and hungry, approximately 90% of bats die of hunger due to the lack of insects as food in the winter season. WNS is transmitted from bat to bat, which is why any contact between an infected bat from one cave population and an uninfected bat from another population has serious consequences. Throughout the northeastern United States, since the winter of 2006, millions of cases of white nose syndrome have been documented. Since its original discovery, white-nose syndrome, WNS, has spread rapidly across the Northeast, killing record numbers of hibernating bat populations. Since its first detection in 2006, WNS has killed more than 5.7 million bats in this area. WNS has now been documented in sixteen states... half of the document... of bats affected by Geomyces destructans causes white-nose syndrome". Nature. 480 (7377): 376-8. Puechmaille, SJ 2010 "WNS fungus white-nose syndrome in Bat, France." Emerging Infectious Diseases 16 (2): 290-293. Times-Tribune. Biologists test treatments for white-nose syndrome. WatchBucknell. "White-nose syndrome press release by DeeAnn Reeder ", YouTube, 28 October 2011. Web 7 March 2012. "White-nose syndrome in bats". ." Web. ."White nose syndrome." Bat conservation. Web. 07 March 2012. ."White Nose Syndrome (WNS)." USGS National Wildlife Health Center -. Web. 07 March. 2012. .