Experimental infection of ducks with Mycoplasma synoviae.

Specific-pathogen-free ducks 24 and 180 days old were inoculated intranasally with the WVU 1853 strain of Mycoplasma synoviae (MS). No significant gross lesions were found in the infraorbital sinus, trachea, or air sacs at 7 or 28 days postinfection (PI), although MS was recovered from all these organs. A few ducks responded serologically by developing agglutinating antibodies. MS multiplied in embryonated duck eggs but to lower titers than in embryonated chicken eggs.