Studies on duck hepatitis B virus: Identification and epidemiological survey in Taiwan

The presence of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) in domestic ducks in Taiwan was confirmed by DNA polymerase assay, Southern blot analysis and electron microscopy. To investigate the epidemiology of this virus, a total of 1274 serum samples were collected from 30 duck farms from different areas of Taiwan and studied by spot hybridization and/or DNA polymerase assay. The positive rates varied among different strains of ducks: 16% in 243 Pekin ducks, 12% in 392 Chinese common domestic ducks, 4% in 196 Muscovy, 25% in 292 Taiwan Kaiyas and 13% in 151 mule ducks. The positive rate was much higher in the younger ducks; it was highest (30.7%) in ducklings under 1 month of age, followed by ducks aged 1–12 months (11.8%), and lowest in those ducks older than 1 year (7.7%). It was concluded that the prevalence of DHBV infection in domestic ducks in Taiwan is generally high, and that the infected ducks may serve as an animal model for human hepatitis B virus infection which is also prevalent in Taiwan.