Derzsy’s Disease in Geese
A parvo-type virus, best treated with prevention
-by Sue Norris Geese are remarkably hardy. In general, they’re free from serious diseases that can affect their overall health. All they require from you is clean surroundings, feed, water, and safe housing.
However, they can occasionally get some nasty diseases — Derzsy’s disease being one of them. It’s a relatively recent discovery that came to light in 1967 — it was originally found in Poland by a veterinarian called Dr. Domokos Derzsy.
What is Derzsy’s Disease?
Derzsy’s disease is caused by an organism known as Anseriform dependoparvovirus 1 and it causes parvovirus in geese and ducks. Parvovirus can affect several species — chickens, dogs, cats, and humans included — however, each species has its own species-specific type, so you can’t catch parvo from your dog or goose.
Like most parvoviruses, it’s a disease of the young, goslings being badly affected especially before the age of 4 weeks. Adults can get the disease, but it usually becomes a chronic disease that seldom causes mortality.
Derzsy’s disease (goose plague, goose hepatitis, goose parvovirus, GPV) is widespread in much of Asia, Russia, China, and California, and can cause significant production losses in industrial farms and small homestead farms alike.
There’s some evidence from a 2016 study that goose parvo is closely related to Muscovy duck parvovirus (MDPV) and there’s a distinct possibility GPV is mutating and causing a syndrome called beak atrophy and dwarfism syndrome (BADS) in commercial meat duck breeds.
Most research has been conducted in China, where the commercial waterfowl industry is suffering significant losses due to disease.
What to Look For
The disease attacks mainly young goslings less than 4 weeks of age, causing high mortality and morbidity. The younger the goose, the worse the disease, with mortality easily approaching 100% in the first week of life.
Physical Symptoms Can Include:
- Lack of appetite
- Increased thirst
- Profuse whitish diarrhea
- Reddening of skin
- Loss of down
- Nasal and eye discharge
- Swollen eyelids
- Lethargy or collapse
The severity of the infection decreases in the second week, and at 5 weeks of age, few if any goslings will succumb to the disease. Postmortem findings reveal that the heart and liver are primarily attacked with damage reported to other organs, such as the spleen and pancreas.
Remember adult geese surviving the initial infection should never be used for reproduction because the disease may be passed vertically, leading to a chronically infected flock. Infected geese are likely to be less thrifty and vital.
Treatment for Symptoms
As a viral infection, there’s no known treatment currently. If the bird is suffering from a secondary infection, antibiotics may be prescribed.
A vaccine is available, but unless you live in an area where the disease has been found, it shouldn’t be necessary. This vaccine is only effective in flocks that are “clean” of the disease and is usually administered in large commercial flocks rather than a homestead-type situation.
Prevention Is Best
Since the disease hasn’t been widely found in the U.S., the most important thing is to buy your eggs/goslings from reputable stock that are certified disease free.
Good biosecurity is vital for the protection of your flock. Disease can easily be transmitted by boots, shovels, cages, and other equipment, so be mindful of this when visiting other farms or introducing new stock, and always practice quarantine for at least 30 days.
Keeping the pen and areas clean is essential, since the virus sheds in fecal matter. A build-up of fecal matter or debris should be avoided, and regular cleaning of the area practiced. Use disinfectant viricides such as Virkon S© to clean around the housing area to keep down the likelihood of infection.
Overcrowding your birds can lead to health and behavioral problems in the flock and should be avoided.
Keep all wild waterfowl away, If you live near areas where they visit, pen your birds in a secure area and use aviary netting if necessary to prevent them from flying out.
The big takeaway here is: Always buy reputable stock. The disease is currently limited to the west coast of the U.S., so it should be possible to find suitable stock for your flock quite easily outside of California.
Sources
https://www.merck vetmanual.com/poultry/ goose-parvovirus-infection/ overview-of-goose-parvovirus-infection
https://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC4963502/
https://www.science.gov/ topicpages/g/goose+ parvovirus+gpv
http://www.duckdvm.com/ condition/Derzsys-disease
Sue Norris was born and raised in the U.K. She traveled around the world as a registered nurse and settled in New York state with her partner about 25 years ago. She currently lives on 15 rural acres with 40- ish chickens, four rabbits, two dogs, three cats, and assorted wildlife. Sue is happily retired and enjoying the serenity.
Originally published in the April/May 2024 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
