Research article · 2025 · Full text
International Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Animal HusbandryIncidence of duck plague (Duck viral enteritis) in Tiruchirappalli district
Volume 10(2) · Pages 308–309 · DOI: 10.22271/veterinary.2025.v10.i2e.2090 ↗
Research areasPlant Virus Research StudiesAnimal Virus Infections StudiesAnimal Disease Management and Epidemiology
Abstract
Author-writtenDuck plague is an acute, highly contagious and fatal disease of domestic ducks. Six to ten dead ducks, 75 days old were brought to Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tiruchirappalli from a farm of 3200 Kollam ducks reared. Dullness, inappetence, conjunctivitis, oculonasal discharge, soiled vent with green white watery diarrhoea, dehydration, ataxia and incoordination were the reported signs in sick birds. Post-mortem examination revealed abnormal inflammation of the liver with multifocal gray-white areas on the surface, petechial haemorrhages on the epicardial surface, fibrinous material over the mucosal surface of the trachea, diphtheritic membrane in the oesophagus, congestion of oesophagus, intestine, and cloaca. HA titre for New Castle Disease was nil in samples of spleen, lung, caecal tonsils, trachea and brain. Clostridium species was detected during culture examination of heart blood swab. Water sample analysis showed numerous colony forming units of lactose fermenter and non-lactose fermenter bacterria. The investigation revealed the death of ducks due to duck viral enteritis.
Summary
Source-checkedPlain-language reading of the full paper, prepared with AI and checked against the text. Each point links to the authors' own words.
Why it matters
- Duck rearing is a significant activity for the livelihoods of nomadic and rural populations. View evidence ↗
- Duck plague is a highly contagious and fatal disease that causes significant economic losses and high mortality in domestic ducks and waterfowl. View evidence ↗
- Duck viral enteritis (DVE), also known as duck plague, is a global disease transmitted both vertically and horizontally via oral fecal discharges. View evidence ↗
The question
- The study aims to report the findings of a duck plague (duck viral enteritis) outbreak in the Tiruchirappalli District of Tamilnadu. View evidence ↗
What they did
- The investigation focused on a farm in Edamalaipatti Puthur, Tiruchirappalli District, containing 3,200 Kollam ducks aged 75 days. View evidence ↗
- Diagnostic methods included HA titre tests for New Castle Disease in various organs, culture examination of heart blood swabs, and analysis of water samples for bacteria. View evidence ↗
What they found
- The outbreak in April 2023 resulted in a mortality rate of 31.25%. View evidence ↗
- Sick birds exhibited clinical signs including lethargy, inappetence, conjunctivitis, oculonasal discharge, green-white watery diarrhea, dehydration, polydipsia, ataxia, and incoordination. View evidence ↗
- The observed incubation period for the disease in this specific outbreak was between 3 and 5 days. View evidence ↗
- Tests for New Castle Disease returned nil HA titres across the spleen, lung, caecal tonsils, trachea, and brain, ruling it out as the cause. View evidence ↗
- The overall investigation concluded that the deaths were caused by duck viral enteritis. View evidence ↗
- Contributory factors for the infection likely included heat-induced stress from transport from Kerala during summer and a contaminated water source. View evidence ↗
- The implemented treatment was effective, leading to bird recovery and zero reported mortality within one week. View evidence ↗
What it means
- The authors recommended treating the remaining flock with sulphachlorpyridazine and trimethoprim (1 g/L) and Vimeral (2 ml/L), and disinfecting the area with Virkon-S (5 ml/L). View evidence ↗
- The authors recommend maintaining cleanliness, providing appropriate treatment, and administering booster vaccinations before the disease emerges. View evidence ↗
Visual summary
1 visualsIllustrations explain the paper; they do not show study data.
Factors Contributing to DVE Outbreak
AI-generated conceptual illustration (domestic ducks). It explains the idea and does not show study data.
View source evidence ↗Introduction
Duck rearing plays an important role in the lives of rural and nomadic people. High mortality and huge loss in the economy of these people is caused by duck plague which is an acute, highly contagious and fatal disease of domestic ducks and water fowl (Kaleta et al., 2007) [5] . Duck viral enteritis (DVE) or duck plague is found throughout the globe between countries and continents as the spread of this disease is both horizontal and vertical through oral faecal discharges. There is no demarcation in sex and all age group of birds are vulnerable to DVE. Decreased egg production and hatchability, condemnation of carcasses with high morbidity and mortality (5-100%) etc are reported in this disease. This communication reports the findings of an outbreak of Duck Plague (duck viral enteritis) in Tiruchirappalli District of Tamilnadu.
Case history and observations
A duck farm was maintained in Edamalaipatti Puthur of Tiruchirappalli District, Tamilnadu with 3200 adult Kollam ducks of age group of 75 days. The birds were purchased from Kerala State. Mortality percentage was observed as 31.25 during the month of April, 2023. The clinical signs reported were lethargy, inappetence, conjunctivitis, oculonasal discharge, soiled vent with green white watery diarrhoea, dehydration, polydipsia, ataxia and incoordination. The incubation period observed in this outbreak ranged from 3 to 5 days. On necropsy, gross lesions included abnormal inflammation of the liver with multifocal graywhite areas on the surface of the liver, petechial hemorrhages on the epicardial surface of the heart, fibrinous material over the mucosal surface of the trachea, diphtheritic membrane in the oesophagus, congestion of oesophagus, intestine, and cloaca. HA titre for New Castle Disease was found nil in organs like spleen, lung, caecal tonsils, trachea and brain. Clostridium species was detected during culture examination of heart blood swab. Water sample analysis showed numerous colony forming units of lactose fermenter and non-lactose fermenter bacteria.
Treatment and Discussion
Clinical signs recorded in the present outbreak were in accordance with earlier works of Gough (2008) [4] and Sandhu and Metwally (2008) [8] . The mortality percentage was 31.25 in the present outbreak, while Sandhu and Shawky (2003) [9] and Carter et al. (2006) [1] recorded high mortality of 60 to 90%. Incubation period was 3-5 days in the present case, while Fenner et al. (1993) [3] recorded a 3 to 7 days period. The outbreak was recorded in June, which is in agreement with Dhama et al. (2017) [2] who reported that 80% of the outbreaks were reported from March to June. National Wildlife Health Center (2011) [6] recorded that the outbreak might be due to stress resulted from hot daylight and onset of breeding that triggers virus release during spring season. In Tamilnadu, an outbreak of duck plague is reported by Pazhanivel et al., 2019 [10] in Chara Chemballi ducks Recent purchase of ducks from Kerala through vehicle transport during hot summer season along with heat induced stress and contaminated water source might be one of the contributory factors for the infection. A number of studies have observed that extreme heat and humidity from March to June might generate stress, thereby diminishing the host's immune competence and facilitating the reactivation of latent viruses. (Ostler et al., 2021) [11] . The gross lesions of necrotic changes in the liver, degenerative changes in the lymphoid organs, enteritis, epicardial haemorrhages, congestion in the trachea, lung and kidney, diphtheritic membrane in oesophagus were also recorded by previous workers (Sandhu and Shawky, 2003; Sandhu and Metwally, 2008; OIE, 2012) [7] . Post-mortem investigation revealed the death of ducks due to duck viral enteritis. The farmer was advised to treat the remaining flock of birds with sulphachlorpyridazine and trimethoprim oral powder @ 1 g per litre and Vimeral @ 2 ml/litre. The birds and the entire area were disinfected with Virkon-S @ 5 ml/litre. It was also recommended that cleanliness, appropriate treatment, and booster vaccinations, if necessary, be administered prior to the emergence of the disease. The treatment was effective and the birds started to recover and no mortality was reported within a period of one week.
Acknowledgement
AcknowledgementThe authors are thankful to the Dean, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal for technical guidance and to Poultry Disease Diagnosis and Surveillance Laboratory, for the conduct of post-mortem and laboratory tests.
References
7 in the original paper- Carter GR, Flores EF, Wise DJ. Herpesviridae. In: A Concise Review of Veterinary Virology. Online Edn. Ithaca, New York: International Veterinary Information Service; 2006. p. 1-14.
- Dhama K, Kumar N, Saminathan M, Tiwari R, Karthik K, Kumar MA, et al. Duck virus enteritis (duck plague) - A comprehensive update. Veterinary Quarterly. 2017;37:57-80.
- Kaleta EF, Kuczka A, Kuhnhold A, Bunzenthal C, Bonner BM, Hanka K, et al. Outbreak of duck plague (duck herpesvirus enteritis) in numerous species of captive ducks and geese in temporal conjunction with enforced biosecurity (in-house keeping) due to the threat of avian influenza: A virus of the subtype Asia H5N1. Deutsche Tierärztliche Wochenschrift. 2007;114:3-11.
- National Wildlife Health Center. Duck Plague (duck virus enteritis). United States Geological Survey; 2011.
- Sandhu TS, Shawky SA. Duck virus enteritis (duck plague). In: Diseases of Poultry. 11th ed. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press; 2003. p. 354-363.
- Pazhanivel N, Rajeswar J, Ramprabhu R, Manoharan S. Duck plague outbreak in a Chara-Chemballi duck farm. Iranian Journal of Veterinary Research. 2019;20(69):308312.
- Ostler JB, Sawant L, Harrison K, Jones C. Regulation of neurotropic herpesvirus productive infection and latencyreactivation cycle by glucocorticoid receptor and stressinduced transcription factors. Vitamins and Hormones. 2021;117:101-32. DOI:10.1016/bs.vh.2021.06.005.