Prevalence of Newcastle disease virus in feces of free-range turkeys in Enugu, Nigeria

Vet World Vol.13 July-2020 Article-6

Research Article

Veterinary World, 13(7): 1288-1293

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.1288-1293

Obianuju Nkiruka Okoroafor¹, Paul Chukwuemeka Animoke¹, Edmund Chidiebere Mbegbu², Chinwe Justina Aronu^3,4, John Anelom Nwanta⁵, Boniface Anene¹, and John Ositadimma Okoye⁶

1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
2. Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
3. Department of Animal Health and Production.
4. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
5. Department of Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
6. Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

Background and Aim: Newcastle disease (ND) virus of free-range turkeys may be linked to outbreaks of ND in backyard chickens seen during Harmattan in Enugu State in Southeast Nigeria. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of ND virus and (NDV) detect NDV in the feces of free-range, domestic turkeys in Enugu, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: A total of 569 serum and 569 cloacal swab samples were collected from adult turkeys in selected households that keep turkeys and chickens together in the study area. The serum samples were assayed for antibodies against NDV using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, whereas the cloacal samples were subjected to virus detection using a hemagglutination (HA) test.

Results: A total of 186 serum samples (32.7%) were positive for NDV and 383 (67.3%) were negative. Of the 186 NDV-positive serum samples, 138 (74.2%) had HI titers ≥ 8. The remaining 48 (25.8%) serum samples had HI titers <8. NDV was detected from the cloacal swabs of turkeys with NDV -positive serum samples.

Conclusion: The turkeys in this study were not previously vaccinated with the NDV vaccine; thus, those with NDV -positive serum samples and virus shedding in their feces may be potential risks to chickens reared in the same households as well as on commercial farms in the area. Those turkeys with sera negative for NDV are regarded to be at risk if they encounter a virulent strain of NDV. Regular vaccination of turkeys against the NDV is advised, especially in backyard farms, where turkeys are reared together with chickens and other species of poultry. Keywords: Newcastle disease, prevalence, turkeys, virus shedding.

Keywords: Newcastle disease, prevalence, turkeys, virus shedding.

How to cite this article: Okoroafor ON, Animoke PC, Mbegbu EC, Aronu CJ, Nwanta JA, Anene B, Okoye JO (2020) Prevalence of Newcastle disease virus in feces of free-range turkeys in Enugu, Nigeria, Veterinary World, 13(7): 1288-1293.

Received: 30-11-2019 Accepted: 14-05-2020 Published online: 08-07-2020

Corresponding author: Obianuju Nkiruka Okoroafor E-mail: obianuju.okoroafor@unn.edu.ng

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.1288-1293

Copyright: Okoroafor, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.