Wis. DNR survey finds no sign of bat disease

MADISON (AP) -- Wisconsin wildlife officials say another survey has turned up no sign of a deadly bat disease.

White-nose syndrome causes bats to wake up during hibernation and quickly deplete their energy stores. Federal wildlife officials estimated in January the disease has killed as many as 6.7 million bats in the eastern United States and Canada.

The state Department of Natural Resources conducted a survey of more than 100 potential hibernacula in the winter of 2010-11 and found to traces of the disease.

DNR officials say a survey of 114 sites this past winter found no sign of the disease, either. But they remained convinced the disease is bound to appear sometime.