Dear Editor,rnDuck virus hepatitis(DVH)is a significant concern in the duck industry as the disease causes a highly contagious infection in young ducklings that is often associated with liver necrosis,hemorrhage,and high mortality(Yugo et al.2016).Duck hepatitis virus(DHV)was first described in 1949 on Long Island in the United States.Subsequent,outbreaks have been reported in England,Canada,Ger?many,Japan and elsewhere(Toth 1969).DHV is associated with at least two RNA viruses,duck hepatitis A virus(DHAV)and duck astrovirus(DAstV);however,no anti?genic relationships have been identified between these two viruses(Yugo et al.2016).DHAV is the primary causative agent of DVH.As the only member of the genus Avihep-atovirus,in the Picornaviridae family,DHAV has a linear,single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome.The genomic organization of DHAV is analogous to that of other picornaviruses with one large open reading frame(ORF)that encodes a polyprotein precursor,that is preceded by a 5'-untranslated-terminal-region(UTR)and followed by 3'-UTR(Tseng et al.2007).