• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2023

Breeding ducks are susceptible to fungal infections due to being bred in confined spaces for long periods. The objective of this study was to show the real state of the clinical fungal contamination of 22 duck breeding farms in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea. Out of the 430 carcasses obtained from the 22 duck breeding farms, 80 were diagnosed with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Aspergillus spp. were detected as the causative agents, including 26 cases of A. fumigatus, 35 cases of A. flavus, and 19 cases of A. terreus. The clinical lesions in the breeding ducks had circumscribed cream-and-yellow-colored plaques and/or white-to-greenish mycelium. Septate hyphae with parallel walls and dichotomous branching were observed in the histopathological lesions. AGMAg ELISA was performed to determine the overall positive rate of Aspergillus spp. in duck breeding farms. These results showed a positive rate of 58.97% for Aspergillus spp. Additionally, the positive rate increased with the age of the host.