As the Arctic warms, polar bears now face a greater risk of contracting several pathogens than bears three decades ago, according to a new study.
As the Arctic warms, polar bears now face a greater risk of contracting several pathogens than bears three decades ago. Karyn Rode and Caroline Van Hemert of the U.S. Geological Survey report these findings in a new study published October 23, 2024, in the open-access journalThe environmental changes associated with global warming are creating new opportunities for viruses, bacteria and parasites to infect Arctic wildlife.
Researchers also looked at factors that increased the bears' risk of exposure to these pathogens and found that exposure varied with diet and was higher in females than males, potentially as a result of pregnant females denning on land to raise cubs. The authors add:"For some pathogens, the number of polar bears testing positive for serum antibodies, an indicator of pathogen exposure, more than doubled and were among the highest levels identified in a population. These results suggest that pathogen transmission pathways have changed in this Arctic ecosystem."Karyn D. Rode, Caroline Van Hemert, Ryan R. Wilson, Susannah P. Woodruff, Kristy Pabilonia, Lora Ballweber, Oliver Kwok, Jitender P. Dubey.
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