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1 October 2014 SEROSURVEY FOR SELECTED PATHOGENS IN FREE-RANGING AMERICAN BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS) IN MARYLAND, USA
Ellen Bronson, Harry Spiker, Cindy P. Driscoll
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

American black bears (Ursus americanus) in Maryland, USA, live in forested areas in close proximity to humans and their domestic pets. From 1999 to 2011, we collected 84 serum samples from 63 black bears (18 males; 45 females) in five Maryland counties and tested them for exposure to infectious, including zoonotic, pathogens. A large portion of the bears had antibody to canine distemper virus and Toxoplasma gondii, many at high titers. Prevalences of antibodies to zoonotic agents such as rabies virus and to infectious agents of carnivores including canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus were lower. Bears also had antibodies to vector-borne pathogens common to bears and humans such as West Nile virus, Borrelia burgdorferi, Rickettsia rickettsii, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Antibodies were detected to Leptospira interrogans serovars Pomona, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Canicola, Grippotyphosa, and Bratislava. We did not detect antibodies to Brucella canis or Ehrlichia canis. Although this population of Maryland black bears demonstrated exposure to multiple pathogens of concern for humans and domesticated animals, the low levels of clinical disease in this and other free-ranging black bear populations indicate the black bear is likely a spillover host for the majority of pathogens studied. Nevertheless, bear populations living at the human–domestic-wildlife interface with increasing human and domestic animal exposure should continue to be monitored because this population likely serves as a useful sentinel of ecosystem health.

Wildlife Disease Association 2014
Ellen Bronson, Harry Spiker, and Cindy P. Driscoll "SEROSURVEY FOR SELECTED PATHOGENS IN FREE-RANGING AMERICAN BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS) IN MARYLAND, USA," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 50(4), 829-836, (1 October 2014). https://doi.org/10.7589/2013-07-155
Received: 8 July 2013; Accepted: 1 May 2014; Published: 1 October 2014
KEYWORDS
American black bear
disease
Maryland
serosurvey
Ursus americanus
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