Detection of Goose parvovirus genome by polymerase chain reaction: distribution of Goose parvovirus in Muscovy ducklings

A portion of the Goose parvovirus (GPV) genome DNA was cloned, sequenced, and primers for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were prepared. The specificity of the clone was checked by Southern blot hybridization to GPV genome and by in situ hybridization with GPV infected cells. In Muscovy ducklings experimentally infected with the virulent GPV strain IH, the viral genome was detected by PCR on and after 2 days in many tissues including the brain. Using PCR, the primers also detected another GPV strain Ma isolated in Japan.