Infectious Bill Atrophy Syndrome Caused by Parvovirus in a Co-Outbreak with Duck Viral Hepatitis in Ducklings in Taiwan

Abstract

In October 1989, an epizootic duckling disease with high mortality occurred in Taiwan. The disease was characterized by droopiness, inappetence, ataxia, ruffled feathers, and watery diarrhea. Affected ducklings were lame, were unable to stand, showed opisthotonos, and often died 3 or 4 days after the onset of the disease. Tolerant maturing ducklings displayed atrophic upper bills with a protruding tongue and became stunted as they reached maturity. No diagnostic histopathologic lesions were found in these ducklings. Fourteen parvovirus isolates, 33 duck viral hepatitis virus (DVHV) isolates, two adenovirus isolates, and two reovirus isolates were obtained and identified from more than 500 sick ducklings in the epizootic. The epizootic was diagnosed as a co-outbreak of duck parvovirus infections and duck viral hepatitis. The high mortality in ducklings and the bill atrophy syndrome were reproduced in ducklings by inoculating the parvovirus isolates alone. The epizootic was controlled by an emergency immunization program of ducklings with sera collected from recovered ducks or a bivalent inactivated vaccine composed of local DVHV and parvovirus isolates.

Serological survey of racing pigeons for selected pathogens in Taiwan

“…Although parvovirus is usually host specific, goose parvovirus can cause disease in both geese and Muscovy ducks (Gough, 2003). In Taiwan, goose parvovirus (GPV) is endemic and an important pathogen of goslings and ducklings (Lu et al, 1993). No AGP antibody against GPV was found in pigeons during this study.…”

Muscovy Duck Parvovirus Infection with Epicarditis in Bali, Indonesia

“…Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) has been discovered in Europe, the United States, Japan, China, and Taiwan [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The virus is threatening Muscovy duck meat and egg production in various countries.…”

Isolation of a goose parvovirus from swan and its molecular characteristics

“…GPV was first documented by Fang in 1962 and the virus causes highly contagious and fatal disease in goslings and Muscovy ducklings (Fang, 1962;Gough et al, 2005;Lu et al, 1993;Takehara et al, 1995;Zadori et al, 1995). GPV has a linear single stranded DNA genome of approximately 5,106 nt (Brown et al, 1995;Zadori et al, 1995).…”

“…The first ORF encodes the non-structural protein (NS), and the second ORF encodes the capsid proteins VP1-3 (Zadori et al, 1995). Current GPV distribution is wide (Derzsy et al, 1970;Irvine et al, 2008;Jansson et al, 2007;Lu et al, 1993;Schettler, 1971;Sirivan et al, 1998;Takehara et al, 1995;Wan, et al, 2011;Wozniakowski et al, 2009). GPV is mainly isolated from goslings and Muscovy ducklings, but only seven GPV whole genome sequences are available in GenBank.…”