Prevalence of Newcastle Disease Antibodies in Local Chicken in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Newcastle disease is a contagious disease of birds and is the greatest constraint to the development of rural poultry production in Nigeria and most developing countries. The only effective means of control is vaccination which is not properly carried out in Nigeria. Therefore, this project determined the prevalence rate of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in local chicken in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. About 5 mL of blood was collected from each of 200 chickens at the point of sale by exsanguination and sera obtained were analyzed using Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test to determine the prevalence of NDV. Of the 200 samples screened 34 were positive for HI antibody to NDV giving a prevalence rate of 17%. The prevalence rate obtained in this study is significant (P < 0.05) and indicates endemicity of the disease. There was no statistically significant (P > 0.05) difference in the seroprevalence of NDV antibodies among the four markets studied. Further studies are required to determine the strains circulating for appropriate preventive and control measures.