Specific prevention of duck virus hepatitis (review)

Introduction. Duck virus hepatitis (DVH) is a highly contagious acute disease primarily affecting ducklings, causing significant economic losses in duck farming. It is included into the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) list of notifiable diseases. Three main virus types cause duck virus hepatitis, with type 1 being the most ubiquitous and the primary etiological agent in most regions worldwide.

Objective. Systematization and analysis of contemporary approaches to prevention of duck virus hepatitis, review of promising strategies for recombinant and multivalent vaccine development.

Materials and methods. Literature searches and analysis were performed using the Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and RSCI (Russian Science Citation Index) databases.

Results. This article analyzes current DVH situation, and reviews key features of the disease pathogenesis, immune response and the disease diagnosis. Furthermore, it presents comparative data on various vaccine characteristics, including production methods, efficacy, immunization schedules, immune response profiles, advantages and disadvantages, and commercial availability. This article summarizes existing approaches to livestock protection and proposes directions for further research.

Conclusion. Although a large number of different foreign vaccines against DVH is available, embryo vaccine against DVH based on VGNKI-K strain is the only vaccine produced in the Russian Federation and it has a rather limited shelf life (9 months). In response to this need, the Federal Centre for Animal Health is carrying out research aimed at developing a live freeze-dried vaccine featuring extended shelf life.

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