Isolation and characterization of an astrovirus causing fatal visceral gout in domestic goslings

Zhang, Qingshui; Cao, Yanxin; Wang, Jun; Fu, Guanghua; Sun, Mengxu; Zhang, Lijiao; Meng, Li; Cui, Guolin; Huang, Yu; Hu, Xueying; Su, Jingliang

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate whether the isolate was pathogenic in goslings. Thirteen 2-day-old goslings were infected by subcutaneous inoculation with 0.5 ml of the virus suspension prepared from the infected goose embryos at the fourth passage (containing approximately 2.5 × 10 4 ELD 50 ). Goslings inoculated with sterile PBS (uninfected control) were kept in a separate isolator. Clinical signs and mortality were recorded for 10 days. Dead birds were necropsied immediately, and tissue samples of the heart, liver, spleen, kidney, lung, thymus, bursa, and brain were collected. A portion of these tissues were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, and 4-5μm sections were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Pieces of liver and kidney tissue were frozen and subjected to virus isolation.