LEPTOSPIROSIS IN URBAN AND SUBURBAN AMERICAN BLACK BEARS ( URSUS AMERICANUS) IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, USA.

American black bear ( Ursus americanus) populations in North Carolina, US have recovered significantly in recent decades and now occupy much of western North Carolina, including urban-suburban areas. We used the black bear as a potential sentinel for leptospirosis, a bacterial zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira spp., which is maintained by domestic and wild mammals.