A percutaneous liver biopsy technique in ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) experimentally infected with duck hepatitis B virus.

Aylesbury ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) chronically infected with the duck hepatitis B virus provide a useful model for studying hepadna-virus infection, replication and the effects of antiviral therapy. In these studies, it is necessary to have an effective method for obtaining repeat liver specimens for histological and molecular analyses. We have therefore developed a percutaneous liver biopsy technique which has a low rate of complications, can be performed at repeated intervals, and provides sufficient quantities of liver tissue for histological and nucleic acid hybridization analysis.