Age Susceptibility of Ducks to the Virus of the Rous Sarcoma and Variation of the Virus in the Duck

Abstract

The duck can be infected with Rous virus if newborn individuals are injected intraven. and if large amts. are used. When tumors have been induced in ducks by the chicken virus, the disease can be transmitted to other ducks without regard for age of the host, but the virus cannot be used to infect adult chickens. When young chicks are injd. intraven. with the duck variant of the Rous virus, they develop a disease which is wholly different from that induced in these hosts by the original Rous virus similarly injd. The intraven. infection of the duckling by the Rous virus manifests itself in (1) development of a hemorrhagic disease fatal within a few weeks and (2) development of one or a few sarcomata in varied locations several weeks or months after injn.