Selenium-vitamin E deficiency in captive wild ducks

Seventy-five ducklings belonging to nine species of wild ducks were kept in a large floor pen. At about 8 weeks of age, a pintail and two shovelers showed clinical signs of anorexia, diarrhea, and leg weakness before death. Gross pathologic alterations included a pale discoloration of gizzard musculature and pale streaks in the leg muscle. Microscopic alterations in gizzard smooth-muscle cells included hyalinization, mineralization of sarcoplasmic debris in necrotic smooth-muscle fibers, and macrophagic invasion and phagocytosis of sarcoplasmic debris. Similar alterations were present in sections of skeletal leg muscle. The pathological lesions were characteristic of selenium-vitamin E deficiency.