Isolation and Molecular Detection of Newcastle Virus in a Private Poultry Farm, Rano Local Government Area, Kano state, Nigeria

Abstract

Newcastle disease is a highly contagious disease among poultry birds and a major constraint in poultry production. Despite frequent  vaccination, the virus keeps circulating among vaccinated and unvaccinated birds. This study determined the prevalence of Newcastle  Disease Virus in poultry chicken and carried out molecular confirmation of the isolates obtained from poultry farms in Rano, Rano Local  Government Area, Kano state. In this study, Cloacal samples were collected from 120 diseased poultry chickens for isolation of NDV in  9-13-day old specific pathogen free fertile hens’ eggs, and 83 samples were positive for the virus. NDV was further detected in positive  samples with molecular techniques using F-gene. The virus was isolated from some samples with the prevalence rate of 73.33%. This  study revealed circulation of NDV in poultry birds in Kano. This highlights the need for stringent NDV control programs to reduce or  eliminate the circulation of the virus in this province.