Avian encephalomyelitis virus in backyard chickens

Vet World Vol.16 September-2023 Article-12

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(9): 1866-1870

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.1866-1870

Abdullah I. A. Al-Mubarak¹, Jamal Hussen¹, Mahmoud Kandee^2,3, Anwar A. G. Al-Kubati⁴, Baraa Falemban¹, and Maged Gomaa Hemida⁵

1. Department of Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.
3. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafr Elsheikh University, Kafr Elsheikh, Egypt.
4. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Thamar University, Thamar, Yemen.
5. Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Long Island University, USA.

Background and Aim: Avian viral diseases usually cause high economic losses because of high morbidity and mortality and poor growth. The rearing of chickens in backyards could have an important role in the spread of certain diseases, particularly those of viral origin. Infected birds might be prone to many viral infections for several reasons, including a lack of vaccination programs, the mixing of different bird species in the same location, and the close interactions of these birds with wild and migratory birds carrying various pathogens. This study aimed to conduct serological surveillance of avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV) in some backyard chickens in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia.

Materials and Methods: Serum samples (n = 368) were collected from domestic chickens reared in 10 backyards in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. None of the domestic birds in these 10 backyards were vaccinated against the virus. In addition, 78 serum samples were collected from free-ranging birds belonging to Columbidae, such as pigeons and doves, in common areas near the domestic backyards. We tested these sera for specific antibodies against AEV.

Results: Our results revealed seroconversion to AEV among the examined chickens (14.6%). None of the tested pigeons and doves displayed seroconversion to AEV.

Conclusion: Seroconversion of these non-vaccinated birds against AEV was suggestive of a recent natural infection by this virus. Further studies with a large number of birds are required to molecularly characterize the circulating strains of this virus in this area. Keywords: antibody, avian encephalomyelitis virus, backyard, chicken, encephalomyelitis virus, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, seroprevalence, the prevalence, wild birds.

Keywords: antibody, avian encephalomyelitis virus, backyard, chicken, encephalomyelitis virus, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, seroprevalence, the prevalence, wild birds.

How to cite this article: Al-Mubarak AIA, Hussen J, Kandeel M, Al-Kubati AAG, Falemban B, and Hemida MG (2023) Avian encephalomyelitis virus in backyard chickens, Veterinary World, 16(9): 1866-1870.

Received: 30-05-2023 Accepted: 18-08-2023 Published online: 17-09-2023

Corresponding author: Maged Gomaa Hemida E-mail: maged.hemida@liu.edu

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1866-1870

Copyright: Al-Mubarak AIA, 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.