Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infects both domestic and wild birds. The virus causes Newcastle disease, a highly contagious and significant disease of poultry around the globe. The disease has a substantial impact on the global economy.
The most common routes of transmission are inhaltion (aerosols) and ingestion of contaminated food and faeces.
Currently, ND is present in six of the seven continents of the world and remains endemic in many countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Central America, as well as in several parts of South America.
- Newcastle disease virus is a notifiable disease and should be reported.
Please see the Defra website for advice on how to spot and report the disease.
Clinical signs
- Oedema (swelling) of the face and abnormal thirst
- Greenish diarrhoea, marked co-infection in trachea, heart, liver and kidneys, and haemorrhages in the proventriculus
- Muscular tremors, torticollis (where the head is persistently turned to one side), opisthotonous (spasm of the muscles causing backward arching), paralysis of the legs and wings
- Mortality and morbidity can be as high as 100%
Virology
NDV is an enveloped, single stranded RNA virus within the family of Paramyxoviridae, genus Avulavirus.
There are ten serotypes of avian paramyxoviruses named APMV-1 to APMV-10; NDV is known as APMV-1. Depending upon the disease signs and lesions in chicken, NDV can be classified into four groups/pathotypes: apathogenic (avirulent), low virulent (lentogenic), moderately virulent (mesogenic), highly virulent (velogenic).
Pirbright's research on Newcastle disease virus
Currently, vaccination against ND is performed using either the live or inactivated lentogenic/mesogenic strains of NDV.
The Pirbright Institute is researching the molecular bases of immune induction, the virus’s tumour killing properties and the use of NDV as vaccine vector both for birds and for mammals. This information will be valuable in the development of more effective vaccine formulations and in the use of NDV for efficient gene delivery and as an oncolytic agent.
