AbstractCaptive and free‐ranging wild bears can carry and transmit several zoonotic pathogens. A review of nearly 90 years of scientific publications concerning confirmed and potential zoonotic diseases that can be present in any of the eight species of bears in the world was conducted. The findings were organized amongst the following disease sections: bacterial, viral, protozoal, mycotic, helminth and arthropod‐borne. The most commonly reported pathogens of concern were of parasitic (Trichinella, Toxoplasma) and bacterial (Francisella, Brucella) origin.