Humoral immune responsiveness in duck hepatitis B virus-infected ducks.

Immunofluorescence assays with fixed tissue sections were used to characterize antibody reactivity in sera obtained from duck hepatitis B virus-infected ducks. Under conditions of experimental infection, antibody to core antigen but not to surface antigen was detectable. A majority of the ducks infected at 8 days after hatching and a minority of those infected at 1 day after hatching showed a transient anti-core antigen humoral response; this response was stronger in the antibody-positive ducks infected on day 8 than in those infected on day 1. Antiviral antibody was not detected in the sera of ducks congenitally infected with duck hepatitis B virus. Several of the infected ducks, but none of the uninfected ducks, exhibited autoantibody reactivity for alpha-islet-cell-associated antigen.