Short Beak and Dwarfism Syndrome in Ducks in Poland Caused by Novel Goose Parvovirus.

Anna Karolina Matczuk,Karolina Julia Bednarek,Monika Chmielewska-Władyka,Magdalena Siedlecka,Alina Wieliczko

doi:10.3390/ani10122397

Anna Karolina Matczuk, Karolina Julia Bednarek + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122397

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Abstract

Simple SummaryShort beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS) is an emerging disease of Pekin ducks, which is caused by infection with a genetic variant of goose parvovirus. Since 2015, outbreaks have occurred in many parts of China, causing economic losses due to high mortality and morbidity. In 2019, SBDS was observed for the first time in Poland in the farms of Pekin ducks, where the birds were found to be infected with novel goose parvovirus (nGPV). In this study, the complete coding regions of Polish nGPV were sequenced. This is the first report of the new GPV variant detected in Poland, and to our knowledge, the first documented outbreak of nGPV in Pekin ducks in Europe.Short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS), which was previously identified only in mule ducks, is now an emerging disease of Pekin ducks in China and Egypt. The disease is caused by the infection of ducks with a genetic variant of goose parvovirus—novel goose parvovirus (nGPV). In 2019, SBDS was observed for the first time in Poland in eight farms of Pekin ducks. Birds in the affected flock were found to show growth retardation and beak atrophy with tongue protrusions. Morbidity ranged between 15% and 40% (in one flock), while the mortality rate was 4–6%. Co-infection with duck circovirus, a known immunosuppressive agent, was observed in 85.7% of ducks. The complete coding regions of four isolates were sequenced and submitted to GenBank. The phylogenetic analysis revealed a close relationship of Polish viral sequences with the Chinese nGPV. Genomic sequence alignments showed 98.57–99.28% identity with the nGPV sequences obtained in China, and 96.42% identity with the classical GPV (cGPV; Derzsy’s disease). The rate of amino acid mutations in comparison to cGPV and Chinese nGPV was higher in the Rep protein than in the Vp1 protein. To our knowledge, this is the first report of nGPV infection in Pekin ducks in Poland and Europe. It should be emphasized that monitoring and sequencing of waterfowl parvoviruses is important for tracking the viral genetic changes that enable adaptation to new species of waterbirds.

Highlights

Short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS), which is known as beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome, is an emerging disease of Pekin ducks in many countries
We describe the outbreak of SBDS observed in eight Pekin duck flocks in Poland
We have reported the first record of novel goose parvovirus (nGPV) cases in Pekin duck flocks in Poland, which was responsible for the SBDS outbreak

Summary

Introduction

Short beak and dwarfism syndrome (SBDS), which is known as beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome, is an emerging disease of Pekin ducks in many countries. In the 1970s, a similar disease was observed in France in the flocks of mule ducks [1]. Since 2015, many outbreaks were recorded in Pekin ducks in multiple locations in China, which have caused enormous economic losses due to high morbidity and reduction in the weight and size of the birds [3,4,5,6]. SBDS was recently observed in Egypt in mule and Pekin ducks [7]. In China, the ducks affected with SBDS showed strong growth retardation with beak atrophy, enteritis, and paralysis. The mortality rate ranged from 2% to 6% in the affected flocks, but the losses were especially linked to high morbidity which was on average 20% or higher in some regions [3,6,8]

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