HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cova, L. Articles by Trepo, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cova, L. Articles by Trepo, C. Agricola Articles by Cova, L. Articles by Trepo, C.

Evidence for the Presence of Duck Hepatitis B Virus in Wild Migrating Ducks

^1* INSERM U. 271, Faculté de Médecine Alexis Carrel, 69008 Lyon
² Laboratoire National de la Santé, Section Epidémiologie Virale, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69008 Lyon
³ Laboratoire d'Epidémiologie - Immunovirologie des Tumeurs, Faculté de Médecine Alexis Carrel, 69008 Lyon
and⁴ Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Marcy l'Etoile, 69260 Charbonnières les Bains, France

A virus closely related to duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) was isolated from serum and liver samples of wild migratory ducks (mallards) caught in two separate wildlife reserve parks in France. In the first one (Dombes region) 12% of wild mallards were positive for DHBV, and in the second (River Somme) 3% of mallards were found positive. The DHBV isolated from the serum of wild mallards was also associated with an endogenous DNA polymerase activity capable in vitro of completing a partially double-stranded viral DNA into a fully double-stranded DNA of 3 kb. The various replicative DNA forms reported for DHBV were also detected in the liver of wild viraemic mallards. The DNA restriction enzyme pattern of the wild mallard strain differed from that of American and French strains of DHBV. The wild mallard strain DHBV was experimentally transmitted to mallard and Pekin ducklings and induced a chronic viraemia in both varieties of infected birds. This strain might be the common ancestor of all DHBV strains isolated from domestic ducks world-wide. The discovery of a DHBV-related virus in the natural wild population might be an important clue in the study of the different roles of environmental, host and viral factors in the pathogenesis of DHBV infection, and their possible oncogenic action in ducks.

Keywords: DHBV, wild ducks, DNA polymerase, DNA hybridization

Received 7 August 1985; accepted 11 November 1985.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Guo, W. S. Mason, C. E. Aldrich, J. R. Saputelli, D. S. Miller, A. R. Jilbert, and J. E. Newbold Identification and Characterization of Avihepadnaviruses Isolated from Exotic Anseriformes Maintained in Captivity J. Virol., March 1, 2005; 79(5): 2729 - 2742. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]