Assay of Serum Antibodies against Newcastle Disease Virus in Local Chickens at Kaduna, Nigeria

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic poultry, caged, aviary and wild birds caused by the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Assay of antibodies to Newcastle disease virus was undertaken using 300 sera samples from unvaccinated local chickens marketed and slaughtered at the Central Market, Kaduna, Northern Nigeria using the Haemagglutinin inhibition (HI) method. Of the 300 sera assyed, 202 (67.3%) tested positive for NDV antibodies, with 75% of them showing specific immunity to ND. NDV-HI Geometric mean titre of 18.4 was recorded showing a low level of antibody protectiveness to NDV attack due to natural infection. The result highlights the epizootic nature of the disease among local chickens in the area and concludes that the data is of economic importance since poultry local chickens are known to spread NDV to other avian species. Vaccination of local chicken is recommended when practicable

Assay for Serum Antibodies to Infectious Bursal Disease Virus in Local Chickens at Kaduna Metropolis, Northwestern Nigeria

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, lymphocidal disease that has been a threat to poultry production in Nigeria and a major disease problem of poultry producing areas of the world. A serological detection of antibodies to the virus was conducted on 300 sera samples derived from local chickens slaughtered at Sheik Abubakar Gumi Central Market Kaduna State, Nigeria. Agar Gel Precipitation test (AGPT) was used for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A prevalence of 36.7% was recorded, with only 2(1.8%) of the seropositive samples having titre of 32, which was below OIE’s advocated titre of ≥ 64 for conferment of specific immunity. These findings confirm endemicity of IBDV in Kaduna and indicate that field strains of IBDV still existing in local chickens serve as vehicles of transmission of the virus, thereby maintaining the infectious cycle amongst avian species in Kaduna