Duck viral enteritis: a comparison of replication by CCL-141 and primary cultures of duck embryo fibroblasts.

Cultures of primary cells and a line of fibroblast-like cells from the Pekin duck were both compared for their replication of the herpesvirus of duck viral enteritis. The two kinds of cells were equally accurate for quantifying virus upon isolation. Also, one-step growth curves showed that in both kinds of cultures new virus appeared by the 18th hour and that infectivity peaked at about 36 hours. Primary cultures yielded about 5.6 times as much virus as did the cell line, though plaques were more easily discerned in the latter. Because of availability, uniformity, and their known health history, CCL-141 cells offer some advantages for work with the agent of duck viral enteritis.