The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has terminated financial support for a binational research project aimed at mitigating white-nose syndrome in bat populations across British Columbia and Washington state.

美國總統川普政府已停止對一項雙邊研究計畫的資金支持，該計畫旨在緩解卑詩省與華盛頓州蝙蝠種群的白鼻症。

The pathological agent in question, the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, induces premature arousal during hibernation, leading to metabolic exhaustion and subsequent mortality. Since 2006, this syndrome has resulted in the loss of over six million bats across North America. To counter this, a probiotic treatment was developed in 2017 by a consortium including researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, McMaster University, and Thompson Rivers University. Implementation of this probiotic in Washington state roosts in 2023 demonstrated a significant correlation between high probiotic bacterial levels and reduced fungal presence.

問題中的病原體是一種名為 Pseudogymnoascus destructans 的真菌，它會導致蝙蝠在冬眠期間提前覺醒，進而導致代謝耗盡並隨後死亡。自 2006 年以來，這種綜合症已導致北美地區超過六百萬隻蝙蝠喪命。為了應對此問題，由加拿大野生動物保育協會、麥馬斯特大學和湯普森河流大學研究人員組成的財團於 2017 年開發了一種益生菌療法。2023 年在華盛頓州的棲息地實施此益生菌治療後，結果顯示高益生菌水平與真菌含量降低之間存在顯著相關性。

Financial stability for this initiative was previously maintained through a multifaceted funding model, with the U.S. federal government and Washington state providing approximately 25% of the budget, while British Columbia contributed 4% of the $2 million total. However, the issuance of a comprehensive stop-work order on foreign aid by the Trump administration in early 2025 has rendered the project ineligible for further U.S. federal subsidies. Consequently, funding for Washington treatment sites is projected to be exhausted within one year.

該計畫的財務穩定此前透過多元化的資金模式維持，美國聯邦政府與華盛頓州提供約 25% 的預算，而卑詩省則在總計 200 萬美元中出資 4%。然而，川普政府在 2025 年初發布了一項全面的外援停工令，使得該計畫不再符合獲得美國聯邦補貼的資格。因此，華盛頓治療地點的資金預計將在一年內耗盡。

Regarding the epidemiological status in British Columbia, the fungus was detected in guano samples in Grand Forks in 2022 and again in Metro Vancouver in March. While clinical confirmation of the disease in B.C. bats remains absent, provincial officials suggest that the presence of the fungus typically precedes mortality within a two-to-three-year window. The identification of affected individuals is further complicated by the fact that B.C. bats do not utilize the concentrated cave hibernation sites common in eastern North America. Given that bats constitute over 12% of B.C.'s terrestrial mammal biodiversity and provide critical insect predation for the agricultural and forestry sectors, researchers have advocated for increased provincial funding to prevent a systemic collapse similar to that observed in Alberta.

關於卑詩省的流行病學狀況，該真菌於 2022 年在 Grand Forks 的糞便樣本中被檢測到，並於三月再次在溫哥華都會區被檢測到。雖然目前尚未在卑詩省蝙蝠中獲得臨床確診，但省政府官員指出，真菌的出現通常在兩到三年內會導致死亡。此外，由於卑詩省的蝙蝠不使用北美東部常見的集中洞穴冬眠地，使得識別受影響個體更加複雜。鑑於蝙蝠佔卑詩省陸地哺乳類生物多樣性的 12% 以上，且為農業和林業提供關鍵的昆蟲捕食服務，研究人員呼籲增加省政府資助，以防止出現類似於亞伯達省的系統性崩潰。

The termination of U.S. federal funding has created a financial deficit that threatens the continuity of transborder probiotic treatments as the fungal pathogen encroaches upon British Columbia.

美國聯邦資金的終止造成了財務赤字，在真菌病原體侵入卑詩省之際，威脅到跨境益生菌治療的持續性。