Occurrence and Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in Polar Bears from Svalbard, Norway

Joerg Jores; Andrew E. Derocher; Christoph Staubach; Ansgar Aschfalk

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-44.1.155

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1 January 2008 Occurrence and Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in Polar Bears from Svalbard, Norway

Joerg Jores, Andrew E. Derocher, Christoph Staubach, Ansgar Aschfalk

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J. of Wildlife Diseases, 44(1):155-158 (2008). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-44.1.155

Abstract

To obtain insight into the occurrence and prevalence of Clostridium perfringens and its major toxins in polar bears (Ursus maritimus), we took fecal samples for bacteriologic analysis from live-captured bears in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway, in 2001. Clostridium perfringens was isolated from 40 of 92 samples (44%). Thirty strains were further characterized by determining toxin type and were classified to be type A, while one was also positive for the gene encoding β2-toxin. Despite the fact that C. perfringens type A has been associated with fatal diseases in several animal species as well as in humans, our data indicate that C. perfringens type A is an normal inhabitant of the gastrointestinal tract of polar bears.

Jores, Derocher, Staubach, and Aschfalk: Occurrence and Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in Polar Bears from Svalbard, Norway

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Joerg Jores, Andrew E. Derocher, Christoph Staubach, and Ansgar Aschfalk "Occurrence and Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens in Polar Bears from Svalbard, Norway," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 44(1), 155-158, (1 January 2008). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-44.1.155

Received: 9 September 2006; Published: 1 January 2008

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