• Cause: Avian orthoavulavirus 1 (formerly Avian paramyxovirus 1).
• Signs: mortality.
• Diagnosis: PCR.
• Treatment: none.
• Prognosis: grave.

ℹ️ Newcastle disease is a notifiable disease and must reported immediately.

ℹ️Print off the Factsheets of Newcastle disease and Biosecurity/disease prevention to give to your clients.

• Edema.
• Death.
• Neurological ataxia, torticollis, opisthotonos.
• Lethargy.
• Inappetence.
• Dyspnea.
• Cyanosis.
• Diarrhea.
• Egg drop.

• Death.

• Worldwide.
• Particular issue in the Middle East, Asian and African continents.
• Many countries are NDV free such as the United Kingdom.

• Young, unvaccinated birds are most vulnerable.

• Commercial breeds more susceptible.

• Can cause transitory conjunctivitis in people but primarily limited to laboratory workers or those exposed to large quantity of the virus.
• NDV is reportable to DEFRA and the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health).

• Mortality loss.

• AMPV-1 is one of the most virulent strains of avian paramyxovirus and is one of ten known serogroups.
• It is encountered throughout the world and has significant global economic importance.
• Clinical signs vary depending on the host species, dose of infecting virus, immune status and age of the birds infected. Clinical signs can span from mild water and feed consumption drops to the extreme end with 100% mortality across a site.

Specific

• Young birds.
• Unvaccinated flocks.
• Imported birds from an infected state.

• The AMPV-1 virus has variable pathogenicity.
• The virus enters the bird via respiratory tract or feco-oral route.
• There are four well documented manifestations of the disease:
  • Velogenic: highly virulent in chickens. Classified as viscerotropic or neurotropic.
  • Neurotropic: leads to acute mortality and neurological sings with no GIT lesions observed.
  • Mesogenic: leads to high mortality and nervous signs in adult birds.
  • Lentogenic: can be subclinical or lead to mild disease that affects birds at any age.
• The variation in clinical disease means that neither the clinical signs nor the gross lesions are pathognomonic.
• Typically, non-vaccinated chicks infected with virulent strains via the oculo-nasal route develop bilateral conjunctivitis, facial swelling and excessive mucous that will dribble from the beak.
• Birds are often gasping for breath and have bright green feces due to gut stasis.
• Birds become cyanotic and blue combs may be observed before death.

• Incubation from natural exposure varies from 3-14 days.
• Aerosol transmission leads to faster incubation periods than ingested virus.

• NDV is a global problem and of great economic importance.
• The UK is officially NDV free, and the commercial flock has a strict vaccination program in place.
• Transmission from wild birds is possible especially pigeons and cormorants.
• The virus spreads horizontally, and as yet vertical transmission has not been proved.
• Infected birds shed virus through feces and oral secretions.
• Spread by contaminated fomites is the greatest threat.
• Migratory birds or illegally imported birds are the UK’s biggest threat to clinical NDV.
• The virus can survive a long time in infected feces or the environment at ambient temperatures.
• It is easily killed by disinfectants, high temperatures and UV light.

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.

Other sources of information

• Fulton R M (2021) Avian Influenza and Viscerotropic Velogenic (Exotic) Newcastle Disease. In: Backyard Poultry Medicine and Surgery. 2nd edn. Eds: Greenacre C B & Morishita T Y. Wiley, USA. pp 229-233.
• Lougue C M, Andreasen C B, Borst L B et al (2020) Other Bacterial Diseases. In: Diseases of Poultry. 14th edn. Eds: Swayne D E et al. pp 1010-1018.
• Raftery A & Jones R (2019) Reproductive and Laying Disorders. In: BSAVA Manual of Backyard Poultry Medicine and Surgery. Eds: Poland G & Raftery A. BSAVA, UK. pp 205-215.