Other Viruses

Abstract

The diseases in this chapter are included because of potential rather than proven importance for wild waterfowl. All have been reported in domestic waterfowl, with only a few having been recognized to occur in free-living birds; however, since domestic ducks and geese have con-specific wild counterparts, it can be expected that wild birds are also susceptible. Recognition of these diseases in domestic birds and not in the wild likely is related to better disease surveillance under farm conditions than in the wild. Many of the agents have only been recognized to cause disease in ducklings and goslings. Most wild waterfowl are dispersed during brood-rearing, or nest in inaccessible areas, so very little is known about diseases during this period, although mortality of ducklings and goslings is known to be high; some of these viruses might be occurring in young birds without being detected. Conditions of confinement may also be particularly favourable for these agents, so that the prevalence may be much greater among domestic birds than in wild waterfowl.