A technique for liver biopsy performed in Pekin ducks using anesthesia with Telazol.

Infection of Pekin ducks with duck hepatitis B virus is a useful model for studying the hepadenoviruses, of which human hepatitis B virus is the prototype. The utility of this model has been limited, however, by the difficulties associated with anesthetizing and obtaining liver biopsies from ducks. We developed a technique using Telazol (13 mg/kg) to anesthetize ducks before surgical biopsy of the liver in ducks infected with duck hepatitis B virus. Eight Pekin ducks infected with duck hepatitis B virus underwent serial biopsies at 4- to 5-week intervals. There was one perioperative death in 34 surgical procedures with no evidence on intra-abdominal sepsis or wound complications. Telazol can be used safely and humanely to anesthetized ducks without the need for general endotracheal anesthesia.