Dear Luis, in my opinion there are many answers for this question. Important from which point of view? Health of bears? Public health? Conservation medicine? Scientifically interesting? Bears have plenty of parasites in all categories probably.

Dear Andrei

Thanks for your point of view. In fact I am really interested in parasites concerning bear's health and conservation medicine. But if you have any inputs on Public Health and scientifical intest, be my guest. 

Best regards

Luís Carvalho

Diphyllobothrium, Taenia, (two tapeworms)

Also we consider Ancylostoma an important parasite:

   Asakawa, M.; Gardner, S.L., Mano, T. 2006. “First record of Ancylostoma malayanum (Alessandrini, 1905) from brown bears (Ursus arctos L.).” Comparative Parasitology. 73: 282-284.

Dear Scott Gardner

Thanks for your imput. can we say that nay of these are life threatning or may have negative impact on their conservation?

Best regards

Luis Carvalho

 The fluke Paragonimus sp  and the tapeworm Diphyllobothrium sp are the two important parasites of bears in general.

Dear Colleague Narayanaperumal Jeyathilakan

Thanks for your answer. When you mention Paragonimus sp and Diphyllobothrium sp, you meant Paragonimus westermani and Diphyllobothrium latum, or you were thinking about some other species of these genera?

Besides the impact on bear's health, what is the real impact in what concerns Public Health in some areas with bears infected with those parasites?

Best regards

Luis Carvalho

One parasite to explore is Baylisascaris transfuga. Nothing is known about its zoonotic potential nor on the health of the bears in general.

Dear Andrei

I totally agree with you concerning Baylisascaris transfuga. Some years ago we had a case diagnosed in bears of the Lisbon Zoo and I took some photos of the adult stage and the egg, especially to compare this last one with Toxocara egg.

Best regards

Luís Carvalho

Luis, in answer to your query about the health effects of the parasites on wild bears, it is not clear to us that any of these parasites directly have an effect on bears. What I mean is that there can be a direct health effects of parasites on bears, but does it make a difference in the long-run. The evolutionary run. Is there an effect on the reproductive potential of the bear populations by the parasites? This is a very difficult question to answer for any wildlife population.

Another parasite that is important of course is Trichinella. All bears have this. 

Scott

Dear colleague

Paragonimus westermanii  and D. latum are zoonotc in nature. They are  important parasites of bear in India.  However other species like P. kellicotti   is also occurring in bear . Thanks for your reply

Luis,

I regard Diphyllobothrium, Trichinella, Baylisascaris, and Ancylostoma to be among the most important helminth genera.  Among protists, there are many as well, and many have not been well studied.  I would like to know if there are any reports of microsporidia in Ursus spp.

Hi

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