LEPTOSPIROSIS IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN AMERICAN BLACK BEARS ( URSUS AMERICANUS) IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, USA
| Autor: | Krysten L. Schuler, Nicholas P. Gould, Christopher S. DePerno, Jennifer Strules, Anil J. Thachil, Yung-Fu Chang, Indrani Sasmal, Shubham Datta, Colleen Olfenbuttel |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
Serotype
Male Veterinary medicine 040301 veterinary sciences 030231 tropical medicine Population 0403 veterinary science 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Leptospira Seroepidemiologic Studies biology.animal Direct agglutination test medicine North Carolina Animals Leptospirosis Ursus Carnivore education Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics education.field_of_study Ecology biology 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Antibodies Bacterial Female American black bear Ursidae |
| Zdroj: | Journal of wildlife diseases. 55(1) |
| ISSN: | 1943-3700 |
| Popis: | American black bear ( Ursus americanus) populations in North Carolina, US have recovered significantly in recent decades and now occupy much of western North Carolina, including urban-suburban areas. We used the black bear as a potential sentinel for leptospirosis, a bacterial zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira spp., which is maintained by domestic and wild mammals. We determined whether Leptospira spp. were present across a gradient of housing densities in the urban and suburban black bear population in and around Asheville, North Carolina using serologic and molecular surveys. We collected blood from captured black bears ( n=94) and kidneys and bladders from carcasses ( n=19). We tested a total of 96 (47 females, 47 males, and 2 unknown) serum samples by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and had positive results (titer >1:100) for L. kirschneri serovar Grippotyphosa (L. Grippotyphosa) in 4 females (8%) and 5 males (10%). No other serovars showed elevated titers in MAT. We tested a total of 125 samples using PCR ( n=96 serum, n=20 kidney, and n=9 bladders) and obtained positive results from one serum (1%), one kidney (5%), and one bladder (11%). The presence of Leptospira spp. in black bears occupying an urban and suburban landscape may indicate a more extensive occurrence of the bacteria among animals in the study region because black bears are the top carnivore in that ecosystem. Potential threats of widespread contamination during natural events such as flood or drought must be considered. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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