Environmental and behavioral changes may influence the exposure of an Arctic apex predator to pathogens and contaminants

Sci Rep. 2017 Oct 16;7(1):13193. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13496-9. Environmental and behavioral changes may influence the exposure of an Arctic apex predator to pathogens and contaminants. Atwood TC1, Duncan C2, Patyk KA3, Nol P4, Rhyan J4, McCollum M4, McKinney MA5, Ramey AM6, Cerqueira-Cézar CK7, Kwok OCH7, Dubey JP7, Hennager S8. Author information 1 US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA. tatwood@usgs.gov. 2 Colorado State University, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, 300 West Drake Ave., Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA. 3 United States Department of Agriculture/APHIS/VS/STAS/Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health, 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. B, Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA. 4 United States Department of Agriculture/APHIS/VS/National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 Laporte Ave., Fort Collins, CO, 80521, USA. 5 University of Connecticut, Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation Center, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, 1376 Storrs Road, Unit 4087, Storrs, CT, 06269-4087, USA. 6 US Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK, 99508, USA. 7 United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. 8 United States Department of Agriculture/APHIS/VS/STAS/National Veterinary Services Laboratory, Diagnostic Bacteriology Laboratory- Serology Section, 1920 Dayton Ave., Ames, IA, 50010, USA. Abstract Recent decline of sea ice habitat has coincided with increased use of land by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the southern Beaufort Sea (SB), which may alter the risks of exposure to pathogens and contaminants. We assayed blood samples from SB polar bears to assess prior exposure to the pathogens Brucella spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, and Neospora caninum, estimate concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and evaluate risk factors associated with exposure to pathogens and POPs. We found that seroprevalence of Brucella spp. and T. gondii antibodies likely increased through time, and provide the first evidence of exposure of polar bears to C. burnetii, N. caninum, and F. tularensis. Additionally, the odds of exposure to T. gondii were greater for bears that used land than for bears that remained on the sea ice during summer and fall, while mean concentrations of the POP chlordane (ΣCHL) were lower for land-based bears. Changes in polar bear behavior brought about by climate-induced modifications to the Arctic marine ecosystem may increase exposure risk to certain pathogens and alter contaminant exposure pathways. PMID: 29038498 PMCID: PMC5643432 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13496-9 Free PMC Article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5643432/