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1 October 1995 SEROLOGIC SURVEY OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN GRIZZLY BEARS (URSUS ARCTOS) AND BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS), FROM ALASKA, 1988 TO 1991
Bruno B. Chomel, Randall L. Zarnke, Rickie W. Kasten, Philip H. Kass, E. Mendes
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Abstract

We tested 644 serum samples from 480 grizzly bears and 40 black bears from Alaska (USA), collected between 1988 and 1991, for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies, using a commercially available latex agglutination test (LAT). A titer ≥64 was considered positive. Serum antibody prevalence for T. gondii in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) was 18% (87 of 480). Prevalence ranged from 9% (seven of 77) on Kodiak Island to 28% (15 of 54) in northern Alaska. Prevalence was directly correlated to age. No grizzly bears < 2-year-old had T. gondii antibody. High antibody titers were found mainly in grizzly bears captured north of the Arctic Circle. Antibody prevalence in black bears (Ursus americanus) from Interior Alaska was 15% (six of 40′), similar to the prevalence in grizzly bears from the same area (13%; five of 40).

Chomel, Zarnke, Kasten, Kass, and Mendes: SEROLOGIC SURVEY OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN GRIZZLY BEARS (URSUS ARCTOS) AND BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS), FROM ALASKA, 1988 TO 1991
Bruno B. Chomel, Randall L. Zarnke, Rickie W. Kasten, Philip H. Kass, and E. Mendes "SEROLOGIC SURVEY OF TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN GRIZZLY BEARS (URSUS ARCTOS) AND BLACK BEARS (URSUS AMERICANUS), FROM ALASKA, 1988 TO 1991," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 31(4), 472-479, (1 October 1995). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-31.4.472
Received: 12 December 1994; Published: 1 October 1995
KEYWORDS
Alaska
black bear
grizzly bear
prevalence
serologic survey
Toxoplasma gondii
toxoplasmosis
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