A review of virulent Newcastle disease viruses in the United States and the role of wild birds in viral persistence and spread

Newcastle disease is caused by virulent strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which causes substantial morbidity and mortality events worldwide in poultry. The virus strains can be differentiated as lentogenic, mesogenic, or velogenic based on a mean death time in chicken embryos. Currently, velogenic strains of NDV are not endemic in United States domestic poultry; however, these strains are present in other countries and are occasionally detected in wild birds in the U.S. A viral introduction into domestic poultry could have severe economic consequences due to the loss of production from sick and dying birds, the cost of control measures such as depopulation and disinfection measures, and the trade restrictions that would likely be imposed as a result of an outbreak. Due to the disease-free status of the U.S. and the high cost of a potential viral incursion to the poultry industry, a qualitative risk analysis was performed to evaluate the vulnerabilities of the U.S. against the introduction of virulent strains of NDV. The most likely routes of virus introduction are explored and data gathered by several federal agencies is provided. Recommendations are ultimately provided for data that would be useful to further understand NDV on the landscape and to utilize all existing sampling opportunities to begin to comprehend viral movement and further characterize the risk of NDV introduction into the U.S. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-017-0475-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.