Abstract
A total of 11 avian paramyxoviruses isolated from migrating feral ducks in Niigata, Japan, were characterized by serological and genomic analyses. Hemagglutination inhibition and immuno-double-diffusion tests with antisera specific for the isolated hemagglutinin-neuraminidase polypeptides of reference strains indicated that, of these, eight isolates possessed hemagglutinin-neuraminidase antigen closely related to that of duck/Hong Kong/D3/75, and the remaining three isolates possessed antigen closely related to that of duck/Hong Kong/199/77. RNA analysis of the eight isolates identified serologically as duck/Hong Kong/D3/75 by oligonucleotide mapping revealed that these isolates were genetically very similar to each other but different from the reference strain and isolates reported previously. The oligonucleotide maps of duck/Hong Kong/199/77-like isolates appeared to be very similar to each other, suggesting the same origin, but not to the duck/Hong Kong/199/77 virus.