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The documents to your computer and open them with Adobe Reader. For best results viewing and printing PDF documents, it is recommended that you download Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format Publication typeįield manual of wildlife diseases: General field procedures and diseases of birds Virus transmission through the egg has been reported, but the role of the egg in the disease cycle remains to be resolved. Scavenging and decomposition of carcasses of infected birds also contaminate the environment by releasing viruses from tissues and body fluids. Bird-to-bird contact and contact with virus that has contaminated the environment perpetuate an outbreak. The carriers are immune to the disease, but the virus shed by them causes infection and disease among susceptible waterfowl. Changes in the duration of daylight and onset of breeding are thought to be physiological stresses that stimulate virus shedding at this time of year. Experimental studies have demonstrated spontaneous virus shedding by duck plague carriers during spring. Little is known about the response of wild waterfowl to strain differences.ĭuck plague outbreaks are thought to be caused when birds that carry the virus shed it through fecal or oral discharge, thus releasing the virus into food and water with which susceptible birds may have contact. Studies of domestic species of waterfowl have detected multiple strains of the virus that vary in their ability to cause disease and death. During latency, the virus cannot be detected by standard methods for virus isolation. As with many other herpesviruses, duck plague virus can establish inapparent infections in birds that survive exposure to it, a state referred to as latency. Infection often results in an acute, contagious, and fatal disease.

Disease Infected: Plague instal the new