Freiman J S, Cossart Y E
Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1986 Oct;64 ( Pt 5):477-84. doi: 10.1038/icb.1986.51.
Natural Duck Hepatitis B Virus (DHBV) infection has been studied in Australian ducks. Sera from 430 Pekin Aylesbury cross-bred ducks taken from three separate flocks were examined for duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) DNA using a DNA dot hybridisation assay. In one flock there was significant infection with DHBV (98/140), but none was detectable in the other two flocks. Episomal DHBV DNA in liver tissue was demonstrated by gel blot hybridisation only in birds with DHBV DNA in serum. Polymerase-labelled DHBV DNA migrated as expected for linear double-stranded DNA 3.1 kilobase (kb) in length. Virus particles with characteristic DHBV morphology were observed in DHBV DNA-positive serum on electron microscopy. No overt morbidity has been noted in naturally infected ducks, but moderately severe hepatitis was found in 3/40 ducks examined histologically. These 3 ducks had DHBV DNA in serum and liver tissue. Mild hepatitis was observed in 27 ducks, but, in these, there was no correlation between the hepatitis and the presence of DHBV in serum or in liver tissue. This is the first report of DHBV in Australia. An animal model may now be established to study aspects of Hepadna virus infection which are pertinent to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease in man.
在澳大利亚的鸭子中对自然感染鸭乙型肝炎病毒（DHBV）的情况进行了研究。采用DNA斑点杂交试验，对取自三个不同鸭群的430只北京鸭与艾尔斯伯里鸭的杂交鸭的血清进行了鸭乙型肝炎病毒（DHBV）DNA检测。在其中一个鸭群中存在显著的DHBV感染（98/140），但在另外两个鸭群中未检测到。仅在血清中含有DHBV DNA的禽类肝脏组织中，通过凝胶印迹杂交证实存在游离型DHBV DNA。聚合酶标记的DHBV DNA迁移情况符合长度为3.1千碱基（kb）的线性双链DNA的预期。在电子显微镜下观察到，DHBV DNA阳性血清中存在具有特征性DHBV形态的病毒颗粒。在自然感染的鸭子中未观察到明显的发病情况，但在组织学检查的40只鸭子中有3只发现了中度严重的肝炎。这3只鸭子的血清和肝脏组织中均含有DHBV DNA。在27只鸭子中观察到轻度肝炎，但在这些鸭子中，肝炎与血清或肝脏组织中DHBV的存在之间没有相关性。这是澳大利亚关于DHBV的首次报告。现在可以建立一个动物模型，以研究与人类乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）疾病相关的嗜肝DNA病毒感染的各个方面。
