Optimization of Newcastle disease virus production in T-flask

Abstract

Newcastle disease (ND) is regarded as one of the most important diseases in the poultry industry. Currently, vaccines for ND are produced by using embryonated chicken eggs, a method which has the disadvantages of being labour-intensive, time consuming and requires large area for the incubation of eggs. In the present study, the production of lentogenic Asplin F strain of Newcastle disease virus by using cell culture method was studied. Experiments were carried out in T-flasks to investigate the effects of serum concentration in the culture medium during virus replication phase and multiplicity of infection (MOI) on ND virus propagation in DF-1 cells. Results show that virus infectivity titre of 6.62 x 10⁷ TCID₅₀/ml was achieved when serum concentration of 0.5% and MOI of 20 was used.

Key words: Newcastle disease virus, Asplin F strain, DF-1 cell, T-flask.