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Bordetella bronchiseptica-reactive antibodies in Canadian polar bears
John Ellis1, Sheryl Gow1, Nicholas Pilfold1
1Departments of Veterinary Microbiology (Ellis, Lacoste) and Large Animal Clinical Sciences (Gow), Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon Saskatchewan S7N 5B4; Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, 15600 San Pasqual Valley Road, Escondido California 92027, USA (Pilfold, Owen, Rideout); Wildlife Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, CW422 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9 (Lunn, McGeachy); Wildlife Research Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Suite 150, 123 Main Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 4W2 (Richardson).
Abstract:
Bordetella bronchiseptica is a promiscuous bacterium that infects a variety of species but has not been reported in free-ranging polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Sera from 385 polar bears from the western Hudson Bay region, 1986 to 2017, were tested for reactivity to B. bronchiseptica with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using anti-canine IgG and Streptococcus protein G as secondary reagents. Sera from bears had variable reactivity to B. bronchiseptica antigens, and there was no difference among bears that had a history of coming near the town of Churchill, Manitoba, and bears that did not. Although the sources of exposure were not determined, equivalent results in both groups suggest that potential exposure to humans (aside from handling during sampling) and their animals (dogs) was not an important co-factor in sero-positivity to B. bronchiseptica.
