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Sample locations 2022 SARS-CoV-2 testing in little brown bats

Metadata Updated: January 6, 2026

The potential introduction of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, into North American bat populations is of interest to wildlife managers due to recent declines of several species. Populations of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) have collapsed due to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by the introduction and spread of the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). Throughout much of the United States and southern Canada, large colonies of the species routinely established diurnal roosts in anthropogenic structures creating the potential for direct human contact and cross-species disease transmission. Given recent declines and the potential for further disease impacts, we collected oral swabs from eight little brown bat colonies for RT-qPCR analysis to describe the presence and prevalence of SARS-CoV-2. We visited colonies in Maryland (n = 1), New Hampshire (n = 1), New Jersey (n = 2), New York (n = 1), Rhode Island (n = 2), and Virginia (n = 1) during May-August, 2022. We have analyzed samples from 235 individuals and all have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Our results indicate that little brown bats are either negative for SARS-CoV-2 or that it persists in undetectable levels in populations of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast in the summer months. Nonetheless, future work addressing other seasons or using serologic approaches may still be warranted to conclusively determine disease status.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date January 6, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 6, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 6, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 6, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_63a34fb9d34e176674f52154
Data Last Modified 2023-01-17T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a347c894-d997-4508-8056-1c0a64e9b811
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -80.2002, 37.0552, -70.8398, 45.1511
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 178c2e3cb457d293890fd633afbeb3264f566be2969572dec747e5ff967dc8a3
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -80.2002, 37.0552, -80.2002, 45.1511, -70.8398, 45.1511, -70.8398, 37.0552, -80.2002, 37.0552}

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