Virus Hepatitis of Geese II. Host Range of Goose Hepatitis Virus

Goose hepatitis virus (GHV) produces a fatal disease in goslings. The clinical appearance of infectious goose hepatitis in susceptible goslings is age-dependent through the first four weeks of life. The clinical signs decrease in severity, the course becomes more protracted, and deaths are reduced from 100% to 0% with age increase at exposure from one to 34 days. The virus was strictly hostspecific, and infected geese did not respond with precipitin antibodies. Infection with GHV during the first 30 days of life reduced body weight to a statistically highly significant degree. Isolation and propagation of GHV was most successful in 14-day-old embryonated goose eggs inoculated by the chorioallantoic membrane route. The best sources of virus are the amnioallantoic fluid and embryo tis-